Transitions (A Thousand Words Book 1) (3 page)

“There’s something wrong with you and Lindsay,” George said.

Dev sighed, she was worse than Jess at taking a hint. “Listen, I don’t know what makes you think that and, to be honest, I don’t care. Yes, I go out of my way to humor her. I have good reason to, and I’m not going to discuss it with you. I will tell you a couple of things that you will understand, that should put a stop to this once and for all. One: Lin and I were introduced by a mutual friend of yours and mine; and two: give it up, George. Chase someone you actually have a chance with. That’s not me.”

On either side of him, James and Kevin flinched.

○ ○ ○

“Well, that was amusing.” James slouched in his chair after Kevin took Krista and George home.

“Almost as amusing as seeing you slouch,” Dev answered. “It just looks wrong.”

“You’re one to talk.” Noah laughed and tipped back his bottle of beer. Dev wasn’t sure where it came from, but he was glad Noah didn’t break out the alcohol until George left. He could barely handle her sober, he didn’t want to see her with reduced inhibitions.

“Hey! My job requires good posture,” Dev protested.

“Your job requires you to sway in time.” Noah shook his head.

“My other job.”

Noah looked confused.

“Dev was a model first,” James told him.

“What’s your excuse?” Dev asked.

“The Madisons. Old family, tradition, money, snobbery.” James shrugged. “Take your pick.”

“You seem well adjusted.”

“I’m the black sheep of the family.”

“How so?”

“College was expected. Cambridge and New Haven are the only two acceptable options –”

“New Haven?” Noah asked.

“Yale,” Dev answered. “Although I suspect his family meant Harvard when they said Cambridge.”

“They should have specified,” James defended his actions with a grin.

“Yes, they should have.” Dev nodded.

“Oh, that’s good,” Noah agreed. “Going to get disowned?”

“Yes and no.” James shrugged again. “I have a trust, so it wouldn’t do much good. Also there’s money on both sides and my mother’s sister never married. She thinks it’s a lark. My father threw a fit and threatened to disinherit me if I didn’t graduate from one of the traditional schools. Aunt Marion said she’d name me sole heir if I wanted to call his bluff. Dad even said he’d accept a master’s or doctorate, and Mom said she’d try to talk him into accepting Cambridge in England, Notre Dame, or Stanford.”

“They sound desperate. Only child?” Noah asked.

“Middle son, actually. I think a child not conforming makes them look bad at the country club. My sisters swear I’m making Mom feel like a failure, and my brothers look at me like I’m a poor relation. Made Thanksgiving and Christmas hell.”

“No offense, James, but your family makes me feel better about mine,” Dev said.

“My family is as normal as it comes,” Noah said. “Well, my sister is a new age hippie, but she’s seventeen and I assume she’ll grow out of it. What’s the deal with yours?”

Dev hesitated. Airing personal grievances would get him more than a few chastising words from Kenny. And another reminder to grow up from Flynn, probably via Kenny. He shook his head. “It’s complicated.”

Noah didn’t push, he just nodded and toasted Dev with his bottle. “Good answer in your position, I suppose. Stick to it when George is around. I should warn you, she’s tenacious.”

Dev slouched farther back in the comfortable, overstuffed chair. Physically the position felt both foreign and oddly comforting, like the chair was holding him close when no one else would. Lindsay would, Dev suspected as the idea trickled through his mind. If he’d learned anything from her and Jess, and the last two nights were any indication, so would Krista and George. How was he going to survive the rest of the week? The rest of the semester?

“Noah, can’t you just ask her out? You like her, right?” Dev asked.

“I do, but I think I’ve been overshadowed.” Noah held Dev’s eyes for a moment.

“I don’t want her. More than that, I’d like to avoid her at any price,” Dev assured him.

“Doesn’t matter. It’s what
George
wants that matters and you know it,” Noah said, taking another drink.

“Lay off Dev. He doesn’t know as much as you think.” James lazily waved his hand at Noah, as if brushing off his concerns. “The problem is: when we first worked on the project we did our programming individually, meeting only once a week for a couple of hours to work out how the pieces would fit together.

“At the beginning, when we were determining a meeting schedule, Dev mentioned his girlfriend and pre-scheduled time for her that he wouldn’t change. I thought that was a stroke of genius on his part at the time. He let the girls know right up front that he wasn’t available and he was devoted to Lindsay.”

“Didn’t work,” Dev grumbled.

“It wasn’t intentional, was it?” James asked. “You really were just saying you had another commitment you had to schedule around.”

“Yeah,” Dev admitted.

“I didn’t get that until we all sat down together. Your girlfriend didn’t come up in our weekly meetings. We didn’t have time for idle chat, now we do.”

“No we don’t.” Dev looked at James in amazement.

“Okay, we’re under the gun, but we’re all sitting together at the table, working and we don’t
have
to talk about the project all the time. We have the opportunity for other conversations now. Also, while I appreciate you hosting, there is nothing around to show your level of commitment to Lindsay. A single picture would have gone a long way.”

Dev grinned. “You wouldn’t say that if you’d seen her.”

“Do
not
tell me you’ve got a homely girlfriend.” Noah gaped.

Shaking his head, Dev considered what to say, how much to say. How much did he trust Noah?

“Her mom’s a psychologist and Lin’s messing with her mind. She’s doing this goth thing right now to freak her mom. It’s a cry that she’s mourning her lost childhood or something like that. Needless to say, she isn’t photographing well.”

“So? There are some seriously gorgeous goths hoofing it around campus,” Noah said. “You had to have noticed Amber in Calculus 215. She’d photograph well.”

“I noticed. In some ways I wish Lin put some effort into it, she’d totally compete with Amber. As it is, she kind of looks like she’s celebrating Halloween all the time. Actually, that’s not true. On Halloween she was totally hot. Mostly she reminds me of bad horror movies. It’s her project though, I’m leaving her to it.”

“Supportive boyfriend, sweeping the girlfriend under the rug,” Noah said. Dev stared at a scuff on his leather shoes, uncomfortable with the concise description of his relationship with Lindsay.

“
That
is the problem right there,” James said, drawing Dev’s attention. “Before, no one saw Dev’s relationship. I, for one, assumed it was normal, healthy, and strong, given his outward show of dedication. It’s different now. There’s no physical evidence of Lindsay’s hold on you and only a few teary-eyed texts to demonstrate she’s still part of your life at all. Her neediness, and your persistence in reassuring her, implies your relationship
isn’t
healthy and strong. It’s in trouble. From the girls’ point of view, Lindsay is a minor barrier to overcome. You’re not single, Dev, but you’re alone and attainable in their eyes.”

Dev stared at James in amazement. He wasn’t much older, still a freshman himself, but he was Bryan and Kenny and Jess all rolled into one.

“How do you know so much about girls?” Dev asked, still in awe that James could apparently read George’s mind.

“Sisters, cousins, girlfriends.” James smiled. “Off the record, Dev?”

He nodded.

“First serious girlfriend?”

Dev nodded again and returned his attention to examining his shoes. “First girlfriend period, actually. In the band, I was – am – the weak link. Kenny says I’m chronically shy. I hate girls hanging on me, following me, hovering around me. It affects me on stage and in almost everything I do.”

“Hate to point out the obvious but you’re a rock star, it comes with the title.” Noah frowned.

“And a model. That was the whole campaign, if I remember right,” James said.

“Yeah, well, doesn’t mean I liked it. Lindsay’s different. She’s a girl, sure, but she – honestly? I could have dropped her in at a place at the table tonight and she could have held her own. She knows computers, worships tech, and doesn’t give a damn about the side of me the rest of her gender can’t see past.”

James nodded in understanding. “That’s why you’ll humor her and pander to her. It’s a bit more than just being your first girlfriend. You’ve met a lot of women and she’s the only one you’re comfortable enough with to be yourself. Interesting.”

“I’m glad you found a new puzzle,” Dev said. “Now how do I get rid of George and Krista?”

“Thinking,” James said, lapsing into silence.

“Back to how do you know so much about women, James. I have a sister, cousins, and ex-girlfriends; I didn’t read into this what you did.” Noah leaned forward in his chair, eyes locked on the undisputed leader of their group.

“My girlfriends may have been different. I went to a prep school that was near a regular high school, so everyone went to the same places to blow off steam. Girls from my prep school were selective, although I still dated some. They weren’t impressed with family money because they had it too. Girls from the public school though,” James exhaled sharply and shook his head. “It was a dangerous game. Any guy with the logo on their blazer was a prize. They were very accommodating too. It was nice, but exhausting. I didn’t have a steady girlfriend, so I was attainable in their eyes, much like Dev. My experience doesn’t compare to what you’re probably going through.” James pointed casually to Dev, and he acknowledged it uncomfortably.

“Still, I know what it’s like to have girls only interested in what you represent. The relationship is shallow and has the expiration date practically printed on her forehead. It’s a crap-shoot, finding the one girl in the crowd you can genuinely listen to and trust. And identifying her before you make the mistake of brushing her off like the rest.”

“Thanks, James,” Dev said. He needed someone to understand, someone on his side.

“Yeah. Glad you two are bonding, never had that problem so I can’t relate,” Noah said. “How does that help with George?”

Dev looked to James again at Noah’s reminder of the bigger problem.

James paused, Dev wondered if he was thinking or if it was for effect. He had a habit of interlacing his fingers with just the index finger on either hand extended, and tapping those fingers when thinking.

“Can you ask Lindsay for a picture from before the experiment? Or maybe have her put some effort into it and do a nice one? Sexy would be better,” James asked.

Dev shook his head. “She’d clue in why in a nanosecond and I’d never get her calmed down. It’s not worth it.”

“So she’s insecure?” Noah asked.

“On this subject. She’d take on anyone presenting competition in Seattle, but I’m out of reach.”

“Pointing out she’s apparently too young to fly out for spring break would be a bad idea,” James said, but Dev didn’t need to be told that.

“Telling George and Krista
anything
seems like a bad idea,” Dev pointed out.

James shook his head. “No, we can let things slip, we just have to make it look natural and be careful about exactly what we say.” He sat back and stared at the ceiling.

“She spends a lot of time with my little sister now that I’m gone. Taking her to movies and the mall and whatever girls do,” Dev said. “I suspect they coordinated their disappointment about me not coming home for the week. That was disturbing.”

James smiled. “Not ideal, but it’ll do for now. She has the support of your friends and family, George and Krista don’t.”

“
Friend
and family,” Dev corrected. “Kenny and Jess fight with her. Only Bryan gets along with her.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” Noah said with a laugh.

“Don’t stress about it, Dev,” James assured him. “We’ve got your back. And a little information, used correctly, can go a long way.”

“It’s been two weeks and he still hasn’t had time to even
look
at the new lyrics I sent? What the hell is up with that?” Kenny demanded.

“He’s in college, Kenny, give him a break,” Bryan said, but he sounded tired.

Jess lay on the floor, bouncing a tennis ball against the wall and paused at the sound of Bryan’s tone. He never took that tone with Dev, but Jess was hearing it more and more now that the kid was gone. He doubted Brenda heard it or else Bryan would be spending more time here. Jess crossed his legs as he remembered what Brenda was like when pissed off.

He was
never
getting married, Jess decided. Maybe. Cassie wouldn’t behave that way, Teri raised her better than that. She was too soft, too refined, too . . . something. He couldn’t trust anyone else though. It never failed to amaze Jess how Dev was such a pain in the ass, but his older sister was very nearly perfect. Not completely. Jess wasn’t delusional, Cassie had her little flaws. Calling her best friend Tiffany a sister – that was a flaw. They were nowhere near enough alike to be sisters. Although, as far as Jess was concerned, even Cassie’s flaws were almost perfect. If he could have Cass, he’d deal with Tiff.

He
couldn’t
have Cassie. Jess pushed her from his mind, like he did a hundred times previously that day, and resumed bouncing the ball against the wall. Kenny’s pacing behind him continued and Jess picked up the drama in progress.

“. . . take the time to at least look since it’s his job!”

Didn’t sound like he’d missed much. Jess bounced the ball again but had to reach to catch it this time.

“It’s not time sensitive, Kenny, calm down,” Bryan said, the weariness creeping into his voice again. Kenny wasn’t going to take that much longer, Jess suspected.

“Don’t try to handle me, Bryan. I’m not Dev,” Kenny snapped.

That didn’t take long.

“And you, Jess, stop banging that damn ball against the wall!” Kenny reached out and grabbed the tennis ball before Jess caught it and tossed it down the hall.

“Hey!” Jess protested and got to his feet.

“Dev’s web conference thing is in a few minutes and –”

“And you spent how long fussing about lyrics you don’t even have to sing? I looked at it.”

Kenny sighed and looked at his shoes as he ran his fingers through his hair. Yeah, can’t wait to hear this, Jess thought.

The computer against the wall beeped and Bryan sat down and clicked the mouse. Kenny looked up and took a step toward the computer.

“No! You do not get out of this,” Jess stepped in his path.

“Another time, Jess,” Kenny sidestepped around him but Jess moved to block his progress again.

“Jess and Kenny took up ballroom dance? Wow, I didn’t realize I’d miss so much fun.” Dev’s voice laughed through the speakers.

“Not now, Dev,” Bryan warned.

“No, now is fine.” Kenny leaned around Jess’s towering figure to try to see the last member of the band now that he’d arrived. Sort of.

“You want to dance? Interesting request. I’m flattered, really I am, but I’m not sure you’re my type. I really dig girls with black hair and thick eyeliner. Oh, and I get off on that burgundy lipstick,” Dev baited Kenny and it grated on Jess as well.

“No you don’t. Knock it off,” Jess snapped over his shoulder. Lindsay’s hold on the kid clearly hadn’t loosened in the past few months. He supposed he knew that, but he harbored vain hopes. There weren’t pictures of her at his trendy little townhouse in Cambridge, but then again, Dev didn’t harbor a death fetish so why would there be? And he refused to even look at the girls in his classes. That irritated Jess more than he wanted to admit. The two girls in the project group Jess crashed were pretty and interested, and smart if they were at MIT, but Dev avoided unnecessary interaction with them. He wanted to strangle the geek.

The silence in the room hit him and Jess looked to Kenny for direction. Kenny’s hazel eyes took on a greenish hue, reminding Jess of Dev’s eyes for a moment. Dev. Shit.

Slowly Jess turned to face the screen. He expected the kid to be frowning, but Dev was relaxed, watching. Blank. Jess hated it when he did that. It reminded him of Teri.

“Jess, you don’t know what I like,” Dev said after a moment.

“Clearly. Are we playing or what?”

Dev stared at him a moment longer, then nodded and backed away from the webcam and grabbed his guitar. “Turn on the amp.”

Kenny was slipping his guitar strap over his head across the room and Bryan already sat behind his drums, so Jess turned on the amp next to the computer that represented Dev. These web sessions were weird and awkward. The kid said they’d get used to them, but Jess had doubts. Of course the kid was weird and awkward, but it was in an endearing kind of way. Sort of. Okay, he was a pain in the ass, but Jess was fond of him anyway. Singing with a cyborg was pushing it.

Sophie came downstairs, planted herself in the chair in front of the webcam, and waved. “Hi, Dev.”

“Hey, Soph. How’d the math test go?”

Sophie shrugged. “Fine I guess. I think I did okay but I’m not betting on my grade.”

“You were pretty stressed, so ‘fine I guess’ will have to do. Congrats.”

“Thanks. Got a joke for you!” Sophie said, wiggling excitedly in her seat. Jess wished he could just fast forward through this.

“Okay, let’s hear it,” Dev said.

“You know that woodchuck thing?”

“Um . . . what?”

“That tongue-twister about the woodchuck, Dev. She wants you to say it,” Bryan prompted him.

“Don’t do it,” Jess argued for the cause of sanity. It was a stupid joke.

“Whatever, Jess. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if –”

“They’re allergic!” Sophie interrupted happily.

Dev laughed. “Good one, Soph.”

“Thanks. Oh, can I get another autographed picture for Margaret? It’s her birthday next week.”

“Sure, I’ll send one.”

“Thanks.”

Sophie turned to leave.

“Hey, what about us?” Jess asked. Sophie’s friends only wanted Dev’s autograph?

Sophie turned back to them. “Oh, yeah. Gunter’s taking a nap so Dad said to keep it down.”

Jess gaped at Sophie’s back as she retreated back upstairs.

“Don’t go there,” Kenny warned.

Bryan started tapping out a beat and Jess pulled himself together. He pulled the microphone off the stand and switched it on. Gunter was going to have to cope.

On cue, Jess started singing. He walked over to Kenny’s desk in the corner of the room and opened the bottom drawer, only to find it full of Sophie’s returned schoolwork. That wasn’t there before. Where . . .? Without missing a beat, he closed the drawer and started opening each of the others in turn.

He found his missing brush and a lipstick that for all the world looked like Lindsay’s. Annoyed, Jess was late on the chorus and flinched when Bryan threw a drumstick at him.

The drumstick skittered across the floor and to a stop near Dev’s bedroom door and Jess stooped to pick it up. Not that it mattered, Bryan had spares. A pink sign on Jess’s old door across the hall from Dev’s, now proclaiming the room to be Sophie’s, caught his eye as he stood up. Glancing back at Kenny, Jess reached for the knob.

“Jess!” Kenny called, but Jess wasn’t listening. He pushed the door open and stepped inside, still singing along.

“What’s he doing?” Dev’s voice came through clear and low over the speakers. He wasn’t angry, Jess realized, his voice was just really low and soft. He remembered teasing the kid when his voice was changing, but he didn’t remember him actually growing out of that awkward phase.

Jess shook his head, he wasn’t here to think about Dev, he was here to torment him. Now, where would she put it? He looked around Sophie’s room. It was like a pink library decorated in ballerinas and the Seattle Seahawks. Dev thought it was funny, Jess wasn’t sure what to think.

A Nerf gun with extra darts lay neatly on her desk. He walked over to retrieve it. Sophie painted it pink! Even the darts were pink!

Irritated, Jess grabbed the gun and ammo, spun on his heel – not bothering to sing any longer – and stalked back out. Kenny stopped playing and watched as Jess stopped in front of the computer screen and brought the Nerf gun up to shoot Dev.

“Do it,” Dev dared him.

Jess shot him three times, one dart fell off immediately, one bounced off, but one stuck. Bryan rewarded him with a drum fanfare.

Dev grinned. “Is it sticking out of my forehead like a unicorn?”

“No, your cheek actually,” Jess answered.

“So I’m cheeky?”

“You’re a pain in the ass.”

Dev’s grin grew as he backed up, turned around, and dropped his pants, mooning Jess. “Still cheeky, Jess!” He wiggled his butt at him.

Jess shot him three more times, then picked up the fallen darts and reloaded.

Dev pulled his pants back up and turned around, shaking his head at Jess sadly.

Kenny laughing behind him annoyed Jess even more. He turned and shot all six new shots at Kenny in rapid succession.

“Hey! I’m not part of this!”

“Dev’s not here, you’ll do.” Jess started picking up the darts and Kenny hurried to step on two before he got to them.

“You’re in a foul mood. What’s wrong with you?” Kenny asked.

“Really?” Jess waved at the amp and computer that represented Dev now. “We’re spread out over the country. Our jam sessions are mediocre at best and you know it. We’re not getting work done on the new album. We have the opening slot for Rushing On this summer just so we can play the big stadiums, so we won’t get anything done then either. Then Dev goes back to college again and it’ll be Christmas or next summer before we get any real time to finish the next album. You know,
next summer
? When we should be headlining our
own
tour?”

“We’ll work it out, Jess,” Bryan said. Jess turned on him.

“This isn’t working it out!”

“It’s what we have for now.”

“Not good enough, Bry.”

“Jess, I can start setting aside more weekends,” Dev volunteered.

“Or you could come home,” Jess countered.

“No. College is non-negotiable. I suppose I can fly out there Friday after class and return Sunday. So far you’ve all flown out here, it’s only fair.”

“No,” Jess said, realizing immediately this would put Dev back in Lindsay’s reach. “We’d lose half a day of practice time because of your stupid flights.”

Dev watched him critically for a moment, and Jess mentally kicked himself. They weren’t used to him thinking.

“Whatever. The offer stands. At least I can try to free up some more weekend time. I have a study group to work around now during the week, so maybe that’ll help reduce how much I have to work over the weekends.”

“Yeah,” Jess said, his anger deflating. “Just let us know when you’re free and maybe try to look at the lyrics when Kenny sends them. He gets all bitchy on this end when you don’t.”

“Deal. Don’t worry, Jess, we’ll get through it.”

○ ○ ○

Dev was antsy on the flight home. The guys flew out several times over the semester, after their webcam jam sessions didn’t work out so well. Jess got so frustrated not having Dev there to pick on that he started kicking the computer and webcam. The electronics gave in after only a week of that abuse.

Chastising Jess would have to wait until after he saw Lindsay though. The semester seemed longer than Dev could have imagined when he sat with her in his arms promising they’d figure it out. In his mind they didn’t do too badly. As far as he knew, she held up to the pressure of – her little problem. Dev didn’t like to think about it specifically. He certainly wasn’t going to ask if she had any mishaps. First, he didn’t want to insult her by asking; and second, he didn’t want to know. Dev wasn’t happy that his sixteen-year-old girlfriend had slept with an undetermined number of guys, but he accepted it. She had a problem. They were working on it. He was really looking forward to seeing her again.

Sophie threw herself at him as soon as he stepped off the plane. By the time he finished hugging and tickling her and got himself free, a small crowd had formed around him. Flynn was already signing autographs. Following Flynn’s lead, he smiled and posed for photographs with fans and signed autographs until Gunter started fussing in Sophie’s arms. The baby’s timing was the first warm thought Dev had to spare for his little brother.

Flynn asked how the semester went on the way home. Sophie answered as much as Dev did, quoting Dev’s multitude of emails and weekly phone calls. Overall, Dev managed to avoid real conversation with his stepfather without serious effort. He wondered if Flynn was only allowing it because he was eighteen now and technically didn’t have to come home at all.

Cassie and Tiffany were already home and ambushed Dev as soon as he walked in the door, effectively keeping Jess and Kenny at bay. Dev was simultaneously touched and annoyed by it and wondered if Jess was going to spend the rest of his life trying to avoid Cassie. Kenny told him before to drop it, in a tone that left an implied ‘or else’ hanging with threats of violence, so Dev dropped it. Except, sooner or later, his sister was bound to notice and Kenny had no influence over her.