Memory Lane

Chapter Twenty Nine

"Oh, come forth into the storm and rout, and be my love in the rain." -Robert Frost

Memory Lane: Chapter Twenty Nine

Quinn wasn't kidding when she said she was banned from playing pool at The Oven Bird. When we got here earlier, Kendall and I convinced her to attempt to play one round.  The second her hand touched the pool cue, we heard a loud whistle from the bar where Ferncliff was shaking his head at us.

With just the four of us at the table, Quinn's ban makes playing pairs exit the conversation.

"I can play against the two of you on a team?" I offer to Kendall and Allen, leaning against the table.

Randomly, a burning sensation begins forming on my leg from where the pressure of the table is being applied and I flinch away. Kendall sends me a look of concern, glancing at the table in confusion.

I clear my throat and quickly throw on a smile despite the way the burning remains. "Must have hit an existing bruise, or something."

Kendall buys the lie instantly and nods, "When I drink, I always wake up with random bruises."

"You didn't drink though, Laura," Quinn points out.

"Still, being around you and your form of dancing last night probably gave me some battle scars," I joke.

Quinn's lips tug into a scowl and she tosses a balled up napkin at me. I laugh as I catch it and toss it back onto the high-top table she's sitting at. Always trying to teach us new dance moves, last night was no exception from Quinn. This time, her dance felt like Kendall and I were a human pinball machine since she kept slamming into us as part of the routine...

"My Uncle taught me that dance when he got back from..." she trails off, scrunching her face, "Actually, I can't remember where he learned that one."

"Or you made it up yourself and you're trying to use him as an excuse," Allen suggests.

Quinn throws the napkin at Allen this time, who evades it with a small step to the right.

"So, are we going to play on uneven teams, then?" I ask Kendall and Allen.

"Looks like we won't have to," he nods toward someone behind me.

I twist my head around and lock eyes with a familiar, sea-green gaze. Without meaning to, I feel my lungs deflate in disappointment that Steven is the one on his way over and not Jesse.

Since Tuesday, Jesse and I have been hanging out every now and then. He seems to have become more comfortable being around friends and joining conversations. The air doesn't become tense anymore when he shows up, and it's obvious Jesse has noticed.

He was on door duty at the party last night, which proved much less eventful than last week's. There were no hidden kisses, but there were plenty of stolen looks and shameless smiles towards one another from across the room as I partied with the girls.

"Laura Laurier," Steven's voice snaps me back to the present. "Looks like you could use a fourth. Mind if I join?"

Allen and him do their little bro-hug before he hands Steven the extra pool cue, now taken from Quinn.

"You've got Laura," Allen explains as he re-racks the balls, "you two are playing against me and Kendall."

Steven's eyes shift back to me and his million-dollar smile shines beneath the neon lights strung on all the walls. Internally, I sigh. Externally, I smile back.

I don't think Steven remembers his actions at the party last week; saving me from falling and then insinuating we stay the night together, and then emptying the entire contents of his stomach all over his back porch. If he does remember, he must not think he did anything wrong because he hasn't mentioned a word about it to me. I've chosen to leave it alone rather than bring it up. Nothing happened. I think the alcohol just gave him a boost of confidence and a massive mind-block that made him fail to recognize my negative body language.