Popcorn Love (47 page)

Much better.

* * *

Elena sent Allison pictures of Lucas or the both of
them with little stories of the games they played on their evenings
together and how much they wished Allison could join them. Allison
laughed out loud when she received one of Lucas with his hair wild
and sticking up and his face covered in black smudges.

Why are you harboring a child Batman in your house,
Elena?

I allowed Lucas to indulge in finger painting. This
is the result. He is calling himself Wild Boy and is pretending to
be a caveman.

Ha! I love it.

He is now asking me to make him ‘leaf clothes’.

DO IT, and make sure you send me some pics.

Allison laughed even harder when she later received a
follow-up photo of Lucas, still sporting his paint-smudged face and
wild hair. He looked like he was covered in mud. The paint smudges
covered his limbs and belly, which were visible since the boy wore
nothing but his pull-ups now covered in giant green leaves cut out
of paper and taped to the material. The smile on his face was
radiant.

Oh my God. I wish I could see him in person right
now.

Do you want to come over?

I can’t. I’m in the middle of studying with Macy for
our one and only shared final. It’s a huge one. I wish I could,
though. I miss you guys.

We miss you too. Wild Boy and I are going to go
build a (paper and blocks) campfire. Study hard, darling.

* * *

Sometimes, they would simply tell one another how
they felt, and, sometimes, those confessions spiraled into
ridiculous, teasing discussions that could go on for hours.

I love you, Allison.

I love you more.

Not possible.

Totally possible.

I disagree.

Well, I agree…with myself, I mean.

Of course you do.

I’m just saying: I love you more.

Well, then, I propose that I love you MOST.

*narrows eyes* Touché sir.

I am not a sir.

Yeah, I know. It just sounds cooler when you add the
“sir”.

You are ridiculous.

Me? Ridiculous? Not a chance. YOU’RE the one who
just went all thirteen-year-old girl on me with the “I love you
most” text.

Excuse me? You started it with YOUR “I love you
more” text.

I don’t know what you’re talking about, therefore it
never happened.

You are impossible.

Can I just butt in a moment to say you’re BOTH
impossible? Because you are, and Alli’s message alert going off
every three seconds so you two can argue about who loves the other
more or most or whatever the bloody hell is ten seconds away from
making me go completely apeshit. Also, I’m looking forward to
seeing you at Lucas’s party, love. Thanks for the invite.

Erm, sorry. That was Macy.

Yes, I gathered as much. I am mortified.

Don’t be. She’s just sour because she’s been
studying non-stop and getting hardly any sleep.

Regardless, I think perhaps that is enough texting
for the night.

I can switch my phone to vibrate.

Goodnight darling.

Ugh. Goodnight.

* * *

When you were a kid, did you ever lie outside and
look up at the stars?

Often. Did you?

Yeah. All the time. I’d have to sneak out to do it
most of the time, but it was always worth it. I’d just lie there
and think about things.

What sort of things?

My parents, mostly. I wondered about them, you know,
like where they were, why they abandoned me, if they were happy, if
they ever thought about me, if they missed me, if they were even
still alive and all that. I used to think about that movie The Lion
King and that scene where Mufasa tells Simba about all the kings of
the past living up in the stars, and I’d imagine that that was the
case for me, too. That maybe my parents only gave me up because
they couldn’t help it, because of some tragedy or something, but
that they never left me. They were up there in the stars, shining
down on me when I felt lonely.

Did you ever find them?

I never went looking. Honestly, I don’t know that I
would even want to know who they are now. They could be
monsters.

Or they could be wonderful people.

Yeah, but if they weren’t, then I would never be
able to go back to my Lion King thing. I’d never be able to just
lie out under the stars and imagine they were looking down on me.
That would be tainted. I think sometimes it’s just better not to
know. Sometimes it’s just better not to have all the answers.

Perhaps you are right, dear. Sometimes mystery is
better than clarity.

And besides, maybe I was always just meant to be a
lone little lion.

I hope not, Allison.

Why not?

Because I seem to have this intense desire to keep
you.

Oh, do you now?

I do. I don’t want you to be alone. I want you to be
taken care of.

I’ve done a pretty good job taking care of
myself.

You have, but if it is okay with you, I would like
to lend a hand.

You want to take care of me?

I want us to take care of each other.

Deal.

* * *

Macy rubbed tiredly at her eyes as she reached for
the key dangling from her lanyard. She used it to let herself into
her dorm room, already talking to the lump of blankets inside that
was her sleeping roommate.

“Alli, wake up,” she said through a yawn as she
dropped her bag on the floor by the door and made her way over to
her small bed. She stopped before she could collapse onto the
mattress, though, when she realized that Allison hadn’t answered
her. She sighed and shuffled over to Allison’s bed instead.

“Allison,” she said a little louder, reaching down to
nudge the part of the blanket pile that she was fairly certain was
Allison’s shoulder, “wake up.”

“
Unh
.”

“Wake up!” Macy pushed Allison’s shoulder a little
harder.

The blanket pile that was Allison wiggled around a
bit, but then the material of the blanket grew tighter as the
person beneath it pulled it closer and snuggled further inside.
“Seriously?” Macy sighed. “I will pull that blanket off of
you.”

“No,” came the muffled reply.

Macy understood Allison’s desire to stay in bed. They
both were exhausted from cramming for finals and bingeing on snack
foods in order to avoid leaving their room or the library. She kept
herself motivated by reminding herself that these were the last
finals she would ever have to take, but that didn’t really work
with Allison, considering she was pursuing a higher education after
graduation. Still, she at least had the motivating truth that she
could sleep all she wanted once this week was over.

“
Yes
,” Macy snapped. “You have to get up,
Alli.”

“
Why
?” Allison groaned, squirming angrily
beneath her blanket.

“Because you’ve got your final seminar in forty
minutes.” Macy put both hands on the blanket mound and vigorously
rocked Allison’s body. “Get up. Get up. Get up!”

Suddenly, the top of the blanket jerked down to
reveal Allison’s wild blonde hair and angry green eyes. She glared
at Macy as she hissed at her like a cat. She held up her hands,
laying her index fingers over one another to resemble a cross, and
shouted, “Go away, Satan! The power of Christ compels you! The
power of Christ
compels
you!”

Macy suddenly shrieked and pretended to gag and
choke. “My devil horns!” She gasped. “They’re melting!” She dropped
onto Allison’s bed and writhed around while Allison chuckled, but
then she rose to her feet again, propped her hands on her hips, and
pinned Allison with a deadpan stare. “Sorry,” she said, “still
here.”

Allison groaned and sat up. She rubbed at her eyes
and yawned. “I hate finals week.”

“Me too, mate,” Macy agreed around a yawn spawned by
Allison’s, “but I hate having to wake you up even more.”

“I know,” Allison grumbled. “I’m an ass when I’m
tired. You’ve told me like fifty times this week. I know, and I’m
sorry. I can’t help it.”

“You know what you need?

“Seven energy drinks and a box of chicken
nuggets?”

“That too, but I was going to say that you need to
get laid.”

“Oh God, I’d kill to be able to crawl into bed with
Elena right now.”

“I’m sure you would.” Macy dropped onto her own bed.
“But then you would be missing your finals and failing right before
graduation.”

“Totally worth it,” Allison said, pushing her tangled
hair away from her face. “I just keep reminding myself that it’s
only two more days until these finals are over. Two more days until
Lucas’s party. Two more days until I can see them.”

“God, you’ve got it bad,” Macy teased. She then
snapped her fingers. “Hey, don’t forget to go down to the bar after
seminar.”

“Okay,” Allison said. “Wait. Why am I doing that
again?”

“How many times do I have to repeat myself? I got you
that interview with the manager, remember? He’s looking for a
bartender and part-time performer.”

“Oh right,” Allison said, nodding. “You think he’ll
hire me? I’ve only bartended once before, remember? I wasn’t great
at it.”

Macy shrugged. “Seems likely. You know everyone there
loves you from open-mic nights, and you can get better at the
drinks, yeah?” She winked.

“Hope so,” Allison said as she rolled out of her bed
and began dressing. “I could seriously use the money, and I can’t
keep working for my girlfriend.”

“I know.” Macy sighed. “Besides, you’re going to need
to start saving so you can come visit me in Oz.”

Allison stiffened in front of her small dresser but
said nothing.

“You know,” Macy said, “you’re going to have to talk
to me about this at some point, and soon.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Allison croaked, her
back still to Macy. “It doesn’t feel right.”

“Talking about it? Or just in general?”

“Just in general. You leaving. It doesn’t feel
right.”

“I know.”

Allison turned to face her and her voice cracked. “I
don’t know what I’m going to do without you.”

Macy’s eyes watered, but she smiled at her friend
regardless. “You’ll be fine, Alli. I know you will, and you won’t
be without me. Not really. You can call me every day if you want,
and we can Skype and e-mail and text.”

“It’s not the same,” Allison said, swiping at her
cheeks before pulling a fresh shirt over her head.

“I know it’s not, but it’s better than nothing.”

Allison said nothing as she finished dressing and
went to brush her teeth and hair. Once she was finished, she
grabbed her bag and headed for the door. “I’ve got to go,” she
said, gripping the handle.

“Well try not to climb into anyone’s shower and
confess your undying love while you’re out,” Macy teased, trying to
clear the air of the weight thickening it.

Allison didn’t laugh but just swallowed and nodded.
“See you later,” she said, and then she was out the door.

“You’re going to fly out of this car like a torpedo
as soon as it stops, aren’t you?”

“Yup.”

“Thought so,” Macy said. “So whipped.”

“Yup.”

“And apparently proud of it.”

Allison grinned at her. “
Yup
.”

As soon as the cab stopped, Allison threw a crinkled
wad of cash at Macy and then bolted out of the back door. She
reached Elena in record time. The woman was bent over a long table
of snacks and finger foods when Allison barreled into her,
denim-clad arms wrapping firmly around her waist.

“Yeeeeesssss.” Allison sighed as she latched onto
Elena’s side like a koala.

Elena laughed and turned in the embrace so that she
could wrap her arms fully around her girlfriend. “Well, hello to
you, too,” she whispered, pressing a light kiss to Allison’s
cheek.

Allison buried her face in the crook of Elena’s neck
and breathed in deeply, taking in the familiar scent of the woman
she loved. She sighed, warm breath puffing against Elena’s flesh,
and whispered, “Hi.”

Elena rubbed her back before trying to pull back. It
was a futile attempt, though, because Allison held onto her,
squeezing tightly around her and grumbling her obvious disapproval
of separating.

Elena settled back into the embrace. “I take it you
missed me, dear?”

“If that’s not obvious, love, then I don’t know what
it is,” Macy said, walking up and setting the small present she had
gotten for Lucas on the table near the snacks.

Elena managed to peel away from Allison just enough
so that she could offer Macy a one-armed half pat, half hug and a
smile. “Macy,” she said, “I’m so glad you could make it.”

“Yeah, of course. Glad to be here. Thanks for the
invite.” She rolled her eyes then as she watched her best friend
grip onto Elena a little tighter. “You’re probably going to regret
inviting that one by the end of the day, though. She’ll be stuck to
you like a leech the entire party.”

“Jealous,” Allison sang from beneath Elena’s
hair.