The World I Know

We had pulled up in front of a medium-sized, white house with a gray roof and blue front doors. Matt pulled up to the side of the house, where there was a two-car garage and an adjacent single-car garage. Johnny got out and held the door open for me to follow. I slid out cautiously, careful to keep my skirt from riding up.

“Thanks,” I murmured as Johnny shut the door behind me.

Standing upright, he wasn’t very much taller than me, his eyes nearly level with mine...and always looking at me. In lieu of responding, he held out an arm to gesture that I go first. So I hurried past him, following Matt’s hulking figure around to the front of the house.

The weather was beautiful. There were barely any clouds in the sky and the temperature was comfortable, the sun baking our skin if we stood still too long. The front yard was speckled with palm trees, both tall and short ones, and a sun-bleached brick path that led to the front doors.

“Ready for this?” Matt grinned, laying one enormous hand on the crease between the two doors.

“Um...yes?” I answered meekly. The doors swung inward, revealing the home beyond.

I gasped.

The doors opened onto a smooth, white courtyard, with a large pool in the center. Brick planters lined the edges of the courtyard, colorful shrubs and small trees sprouting from them. The true house was to the back and right of the courtyard, appearing to be two stories. To our right there was a set of sliding glass doors that were wide open, leading into a comfortable-looking sitting room. There were recessed doors on either side of the pool – one probably led into the main part of the house – each with balconies over them, most likely accessed from the upper bedrooms.

I followed Matt and Zacky toward the house – glancing back, I saw Johnny disappearing through a set of doors I hadn’t noticed next to the front entrance.

“Where’s he going?” I asked, jogging to catch up with Matt.

He looked toward the front and said, “Guest house. He’s been staying there for a while now, since places to rent are so hard to come by. Zack lives here, too.”

“Oh. Okay.”

We stepped into the sitting room, which was light and airy. The floor was white tile, the couches white suede with teal and red throw pillows here and there. The TV was on, playing some rock music through an impressive surround sound system. To our left was a small, open kitchen. A woman stood at the bar, chopping vegetables, while a dark-haired man operated the stove behind her. Beyond the kitchen, I made out a hallway to the right and a staircase visible just beyond a doorway to the left.

“Hello!” said the woman, looking up and noticing her visitors. She had dark hair that fell in graceful curls around her shoulders. Michelle or Val? I wondered.

The man, who had turned to set hot sauce on the bar, shook his shaggy hair from his face and squinted in our direction. “Well, who’s this?” he asked, his dark eyes studied my face.

Matt patted my shoulder, nearly buckling my knees, and started to say, “Brian, this is—”

“My Harmonica!”

Milliseconds later, I was tackled with enough force to knock me flat. Fortunately, a set of gangly arms wrapped around me and held me firmly upright while also crushing the life out of me.

“Hi, Jimmy,” I gasped, trying to subtly shift myself into a less rib-shattering position.

“Hi, Harmonica,” Brian laughed, not seeming concerned by the shade of violet my face was starting to turn. “Brian. Michelle,” he added, gesturing to the woman.

“Jesus, Jim, try not to kill her,” Matt grumbled, yanking me away from the not-so-gentle giant. “This is her first night of freedom and I’d really like for her to live through it.”

“You rescued her? Ooh, a runaway!” Jimmy exclaimed cheerily. “Don’t worry, we’ll protect you from those awful kidnappers! They’ll never get you back!”

I giggled. “I think that will make you the kidnappers.”

He gasped dramatically. “Then we’ll be outlaws, running to protect you from your unbearable fate!”

“What fate?”

“STDs, if Johnny gets ahold of you,” Brian called from the kitchen.

Johnny, who had coincidentally just been walking in, looked around warily and said, “Who’s talking about me?”

Zack, who had flopped down on the loveseat and was taking up every last inch of it, said lazily, “We were just calling you a manwhore.”

“Hey, that’s my title!” Brian whined.

“Big Whiney Baby, that can be your title,” Matt compromised. Brian glared at him, seemingly displeased at the turn of events, and went back to his cooking with a lot of dark muttering.

Michelle, who had just finished her chopping, looked up and said, “Why’s everyone standing around? Make yourselves comfy.”

There was a sudden scuffle as everyone rushed for the best seats. I was jostled around a bit before a set of soft hands grabbed my arms and somehow managed to fit me into a spot on the couch. I looked at Michelle gratefully. She was sitting next to me, with Matt on her other side. Johnny was to my left, squished into the spot so closely that our legs were touching. No one attempted to sit in the wicker chair across from the loveseat that Zacky was hogging. Jimmy, after a rejected attempt to lay across our laps, sat down on the floor between mine and Michelle’s knees.

“So, Harmonica...?”

“Harmony,” I said with an embarrassed smile.

Michelle smiled warmly and continued, “Harmony, then. How did you end up getting dragged into this?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

“I challenged her,” said Zacky. “Her mom’s a crazy bitch who controls her life and I told her to grow a backbone.”

“And you did?”

Before I could answer, Zacky said, “I bet she lied her skirt off to get here. It makes us that much more sexy – we’re the forbidden fruit. The unwinnable prize. The tempting—”

“We get it, now shut the hell up,” said Michelle, rolling her eyes. She turned back to me, placing a hand on mine. “Well, we’re glad to have you. Nice to have another girl around here.”

I smiled, less nervously this time. Michelle was very pretty, with a long face and nose, warm brown eyes, and a mothering sort of air to her. She didn’t make me nervous like the guys did. In fact, I felt more comfortable now than I had in a few days.

“Michelle,” Brian called, “your peppers are caramelizing. Is that what you were going for?”

“Shoot!” she exclaimed, jumping up and hurrying over to the stove. I thought about moving over so Johnny and I were no longer touching, but didn’t want to leave Michelle without a seat. My eyes wandered over to Johnny, to see how he felt about the proximity. He seemed perfectly at ease, leaning against the arm of the couch and looking out at the courtyard. His hazel eyes were unfocused and I realized his mind was a million miles away.

I jumped slightly as Jimmy put his head against my leg. He was looking down at his phone, his fingers flying over the keys. On impulse, I reached out and began to play with his hair. It was such a mess – choppy and in slight need of washing. Some pieces were shorter than others and I believed more than ever that he had simply taken the kitchen scissors to them on a whim one morning.

“So where does your mom think you are?” Matt asked, drawing my attention. I marveled at how big he looked, with his arms spread out on the back of the couch. It was ridiculous, really.

“She, um...she thinks I’m doing a school presentation and spending the night with a friend.”

“So we have you for the whole night?” Zacky asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

I felt my cheeks heat up and quickly looked down at my knees. “Well, I can still spend the night with my friend if you guys get sick of me.”

“No!” exclaimed Jimmy, looking up from his phone and wrapping an arm around my leg. “Stay forever!”

I couldn’t help a small laugh, and I patted Jimmy’s head reassuringly. “I’ll stay the night, if you want me to.”

“Did you actually have a school thing to do?” Johnny asked, apparently having zoned back into the conversation.

“I have class, but I can afford to miss a day.”

“So you’re still in high school?”

“I’m a senior. The class I’m missing is a college course.”

Zacky leaned forward, eyebrows furrowed, and said, “So you do weddings every weekend, you go to school every day, and you go to college every night?”

“Not every night,” I corrected. “My classes are every other day. Tuesdays and Thursdays I have rehearsals.”

“Jesus. When do you just relax?” asked Johnny.

“Well...” I bit my lip. The truth was, I never really relaxed. When I wasn’t at school or rehearsing or performing, I was wading through an ever-present bog of homework and memorizing song lyrics. Finally, I managed to say, “I relax at night.”

“Don’t you have hobbies though?” Matt asked. “Do you even have time?”

“Sometimes I draw,” I admitted. “But my mom doesn’t really approve.”

“I wanna see!” Jimmy exclaimed, twisting around to look at me.

“See?”

“Your drawings. I wanna see.”

“Oh, no,” I said quickly, shaking my head. “I’d really rather not.”

“Why not? Do you suck?” asked Zacky.

I knew he was challenging me again, but I wouldn’t let him manipulate me this time. So I crossed my arms and said firmly, “No. They’re just private.”

Zacky opened his mouth to argue, but Matt smacked him with the back of his hand. “Leave her alone. Not everyone’s a show-off like you.”

“You’re one to talk. Hello, Pot? This is the kettle. You’re a lying bitch.”

Matt was about to retort when Michelle called, “Dinner’s ready!”

I was unprepared for the near-stampede that followed Michelle’s announcement. I was forced to my feet be the sheer force of Matt and Johnny jumping up from the couch. For one glorious second, I beheld the bar laid out in a near buffett – tortilla shells, beef and chicken, peppers, cheese of every kind, six different bottles of sauce...

Then the guys were upon it, elbowing each other around as they fought over the precious food. I caught sight of Michelle standing off to the side, holding two plates and smiling at me. She drifted over to me, offering me a plate with two loaded fajitas.

“Never fail to fix your own plate before announcing dinner,” she told me.

“Thanks. I’ll remember that.”

Michelle led the way over to the kitchen table, where we engaged in more civilized conversation. She told me stories of their tour antics – each one had gotten in trouble for drunken misconduct, being thrown out of several drinking establishments. The stories of Jimmy’s goofy behavior were endless. Brian apparently turning into a total goofball when he’d been drinking, talking nonsense and giggling a lot. Matt apparently got very affectionate when he drank (“Don’t let him hug you when he’s drunk – you’ll suffocate.”) and Johnny got impulsive and would do pretty much anything you told him to, even if it was jump off the second floor of a parking garage.

She also told me about Val, who I learned was actually her sister. She and Matt had been dating for about a year when she had told him she wanted to get married. Matt hadn’t been sure how to handle it and the following awkwardness was what ultimately brought the relationship to an end. Although they’d been broken up for over a year now, things were apparently still tense between the two.

A few months ago, Val had decided she didn’t need a man to make her happy and was now trying to have a baby. I wasn’t quite sure why and Michelle couldn’t really explain it, either. A baby seemed like a big responsibility for a single woman. But if it was what she wanted, who was I to judge? This was apparently what Matt had meant when he’d said Val was going through a tough time – the process involved a lot of hormones and medicines that made her pretty much miserable.

Every few minutes, our quiet conversation would be interrupted by a loud belch or hoot of laughter from the courtyard, where the guys had decided to eat their food while they dipped their feet in the heated pool. Then we’d just shake our heads, smile, and continue our discussion. We finished our food long before the men and set to the task of cleaning up the huge mess they’d left on the bar. Scraps of lettuce and cheese, splotches of taco sauce, and beans absolutely everywhere.

As I was putting the last dish in the dishwasher, Michelle pulled a bottle from an upper shelf and asked, “Would you like a glass of wine?”

“I’m not twenty-one,” I said instantly.

Michelle grinned. “You’re not going anywhere, so why does it matter?”

I hesitated, then slowly nodded. “Okay. I’ll try some.”

We had just sat back down at the table with our glasses when Val herself made an appearance, slipping quietly in through the garage entrance. Like Michelle, she had a long, thin face, but her hair was bright blonde, pulled up into a high ponytail. Her eyes were a shade darker and she looked exhausted.

She sat down without asking who I was or why I was there and began telling us all about her latest treatment and all the ways the doctor had implied that she shouldn’t be doing this. I sipped my wine, enjoying the fruity taste, and listened intently. It wasn’t until she’d exhausted the topic that she leaned back in her seat, glanced over at me, and said curiously, “Who’s this?”

“I’m Harmony,” I offered mildly. “They kidnapped me.”

Val nodded. “Okay then. Nice to meet you. Has Michelle gone over the pitfalls with you?”

“I went over all the warning signs,” Michelle confirmed. “Drunk hugs, knock-knock jokes, Jimmy’s off-switch...”

A loud guffaw drifted in through the open doors, attracting Val’s attention. She looked out the window, her expression carefully blank. After a second, her face lit up in a grin. “You wanna do something totally evil?” she asked us.

There was brief discussion, then Michelle vanished deeper into the house. Val and I pushed quietly away from the table and crept out into the courtyard. A few minutes later, Michelle emerged from her and Brian’s bedroom, wearing what she dubbed her sexiest bikini. As expected, every eye was on her as she strutted around the pool and delicately dipped her toes in to check the temperature.

Val and I tiptoed up behind Matt, fighting back giggles, and—

“Fuck!” Matt shouted as he went down, making a splash that soaked us all.

The guys scattered, plates and beer bottles clattering noisily as they hit the ground. Jimmy got knocked into the pool in all the chaos. Val managed to grab Brian and they both hit the water, a tangle of flailing arms and legs. I grabbed Johnny’s arm – thinking he was the only one I had a chance of pushing into the pool – but he jerked away, causing me to crash into him. Our feet tangled and we toppled to the ground.

“Oof,” he groaned. “You killed me.”

“You’re the one crushing me,” I gasped, putting both hands on his chest to push him away.

“Am I?” he asked, shifting so his weight was no longer crushing me, although I was still aware of every plane of his body against mine. My cheeks were ablaze, my eyes fixed on his, unsure what I was seeing in them. My stomach turned and I was feeling slightly giddy from the two glasses of wine I’d already had.

“What are you doing?” I breathed.

Johnny let out a quick breath and sat back, pulling me with him as he rose to his feet. “Don’t be so skittish,” he advised. “They’ll take advantage.”

“I’m not scared,” I stated. He smirked and ran a hand down my arm, taking my shaking hand in his and holding it up to argue my statement. His fingers were cool against my skin, and yet I felt warmth blossoming inside me from his touch. Our loosely clasped hands were the only things separating us and I was very aware of the proximity.

So it was quite surprising when a pair of hands grabbed my waist and pulled me backward into the pool. The water was warm despite the chilly weather and it cleared my head somewhat. I came sputtering to the surface and turned around to behold Matt’s grinning face.

“Gotcha!” he declared.

“Dang it, Matt!” I exclaimed, tugging at my drenched shirt.

“What’s the matter, Princess?” Zacky called from the pool ladder he was perched on. His hair was dripping, so Michelle must have managed to push him in while I was distracted by Johnny. “Afraid of a little cuss?”

“Leave her alone, Zack,” said Matt, frowning.

I looked up at Zacky, who was smirking, and felt something twist in my stomach. It was the second or third time Matt had risen to my defense against Zacky and I was starting to get annoyed. I should be able to stand up for myself. I didn’t need to be defended, right?

“I’m not afraid of anything, motherfucker!” I declared.

“Hell, yeah!” everyone cheered.

It only took a few minutes for everyone else to end up in the pool, whether they were pushed or jumped in willingly. A lot of playful splashing and dunking ensued and more than one empty beer bottle ended up floating in the pool. I tried a sip of Matt’s beer when he offered, but the bitter taste made me cringe and everyone laughed. After that, I stuck to the wine. Michelle was a perfect host, keeping my glass full as the night went on.

Time began to slip away from me. The sun was going down, all of us enjoying the colorful sunset. Several pool games were played, including Jimmy’s game of Dunk the Midget – that is to say, Johnny. By the time it was full dark, I was in a drunken haze. I splashed a lot, danced a lot, and experienced a lot of unfamiliar physical contact. I played a game of chicken, Matt and I against Brian and Michelle, and won. I was picked up and spun around a lot by Jimmy. I even climbed onto Zacky’s back and refused to let go no matter how many times he tried to scrape me off against the side of the pool, finally ending in Johnny jumping onto my back and dragging us all underwater. I’d had to let go just to keep from drowning.

And I may or may not have gotten so drunk that I didn’t push away a certain someone when he lay his hand on my hip and pulled me onto his lap. I may or may not have let him lead me away from the guys, away from the well-lit courtyard and into a darkened bedroom. And I may or may not have let him do things to me that I’d never even imagined doing with a man. And it was amazing. His lips pressed hard against mine, his fingers crushing me against him, the feeling of his hot skin against mine. It was just so...perfect.

Then the morning came.

Notes