I've said before that I'm pretty straightforward with things. I say what's on my mind and I do what occurs to me to do, and I don't spend a lot of time thinking or dwelling on things. Maybe that's bad, and people have warned me about being reckless or thoughtless, but what I don't do is spend a lot of time moping about or struggling with decisions. I just kind of go, and consequences are dealt with as they come up.
Which made it all the more frustrating when Angela all but vanished on me for a week following the beach party. She'd said we'd talk about the kiss, and what happened, and then she hid in a hole. Well. Her house isn't really a hole, I guess, but the imagery is what matters here. So I borrowed Just's car and drove out to see her. In deference to her family's more conservative nature -- and who has a family less conservative than mine, I ask you -- I didn't wear my favorite sundress. Instead, I wore cargo shorts, a loose T-shirt with a sports bra underneath, and sandals. I looked casual, but presentable, and my wild mass of curly red hair was pulled back off of my face in a ponytail.
Angela's house, in point of fact, is actually quite nice, a two-story affair -- I don't know architecture from agriculture, so I couldn't tell you the style, but it had a peaked roof and a broad screened porch that wrapped around the front and side, and the foundation was elevated (this was a flood zone, after all). I parked out front and went up the short drive, enjoying the smell of the flowers that grew in wild profusion to either side of the walk. The Masons put a lot of attention into their landscaping; the lawn was deep and green and well-tended, with little hedges around the edges.
Hedges. Edges. Heh.
My knock was answered by the elder Mrs. Mason, who, while she would win no beauty prizes, was among the sweetest, kindliest women I knew. She immediately grinned widely enough to please a dentist and wrapped me in a hug that threatened several ribs. I kissed her forehead and hugged her back -- I was taller than she by several inches -- and begged her to let me breathe again. The stout little woman nodded and let go, and ushered me in.
"You here to see Angie?" she asked, wiping her strong, dark hands on her apron. I noticed then that she had flour on them.
"If she's home," I say lightly. "You baking?"
"Pies for dessert," she confirms, then shakes a finger at me. "And you don't get none less you stay for dinner, young lady. Look like you could use a good healthy dinner."
That makes me laugh. Everyone in the house remarks about how much I eat. "If I stay for dinner," I warn her, "you'll need groceries in the morning." I grin again at her skeptical look. "I work hard, Mrs. Mason, I need a lot of fuel. She upstairs?"
Mother Mason casts a glance upward, her thick lips thinning into what isn't quite a frown. "Been holed up there all day. You at that party she went to?"
"I was there," I agree. "She seemed fine when we left. I kept an eye on her, Mrs. Mason."
She snorts heavily, and meaningfully. "Maybe. Someone keep an eye on you?"
I give her the widest, most innocent smile I can manage, the one that's all teeth and wide eyes and complete bullshit. "Angela, of course."
Rolling her eyes, the Mason matron flaps a hand at me. "Go on, go talk to her. I got pies."
So I headed up the stairs and poked around till I found Angela's door. It wasn't hard. It was the only door with a painted shield on the front of it. The device was a boar with tusks lowered. Some people think of boars and pigs as if they're the same thing; they're not. Boars are terrifying animals, mean as hell and powerful. I didn't really think of Angela that way, but I suppose you wanted something fierce on your shield, to tell the other guy what he was in for.
I knock lightly on the door. "Anj?" I say hesitantly. "It's Kady. Are you okay?"
Silence for a few moments, then, "Hang on." I hear her walking to the door, then unlocking it, and she opens the door for me, immediately turning away from me to trudge back to her bed as I step inside and close the door behind me.
Her room is kind of a mess. The thin carpet is a dark blue, and various articles of clothing are scattered across it. She has an armor stand in the corner -- yes, she has actual armor she wears, and where her parents got the money for that I will never know -- and there's a bra hanging over the ....pauldron? Plastron? Shoulderpiece. I don't know what it's called. Her weapons are racked on the wall, a bamboo practice sword, a wooden weapon I know she uses for exercise because of its weight, and a true steel longsword. I don't like looking at it, as beautiful as the workmanship is.
Angela has a low, wide bed with a canopy of drapings over it, because the slightest bit of light will keep her from sleeping. She's sitting on the edge of it, bare feet planted on the carpet, in jeans and a t-shirt, and she looks kind of rough. Her hair, as curly as mine but black as pitch, falls down around her face, her elbows rest on her knees, and her broad shoulders are drooped and forward.
I don't sit next to her. Instead, I come around and kneel in front of her, reaching up to push some of the hair out of the way so I can see her face. "What?" I ask softly.
She stares at me, eyes so dark they're almost black, her lips pressed together. I've always thought Angela was pretty, with large dark eyes and a straight nose, generous mouth with full lips, and a strong chin and high cheekbones. Her looks come from her father, softened for a feminine face, but still carrying a sense of strength and determination.
"I don't know," she says finally. "I been sitting here, thinking about it, and all I can think is, I ain't like you, Kady. You just gave it to those boys, because you wanted it, and I don't think less of you for that, I
don't
-- but I couldn't do that. You're beautiful, and you say I'm beautiful, and that you want me, and I....It has to mean something, to me, Kady. It's got to .....I don't know, I can't be like you, it's got to....mean something."
The last two words trail off into mumbles as her gaze finally shifts away from me, and I sit back, startled. She buries her face in her hands, strong and sinewy hands, the backs dark mahogany, the palms and fingertips a paler color, and I reach up and pull her hands away from her face. Had she actually resisted, I couldn't have moved her -- Angela is much stronger than I am, but I am persistent and tenacious.
"It always means something," I tell her softly, holding her eyes with mine. "What it means might be different from case to case, but it always means something. Yes. I wanted it. And they gave me what I wanted, and they were kind and gentle and sweet, and I plan to find them and reward them one day. Because they didn't have to be. That day, on the beach, it meant a sharing of joy and love of life. It means something when I'm with Neil. He teaches me things, and makes me feel ways I didn't know I could. It could end any day, and it's all the sweeter for that. Can you look at me, honestly, here and now, kneeling on your bedroom floor, being your friend, telling you these things, can you honestly look me in the eye, Angela, and believe that you mean nothing to me? Because I don't believe for a second that I mean nothing to you."
She lets out a breath, slow and steady. "Don't know if that's enough. I don't know if I could....you know...be with you, and not get jealous if..."
"Jealousy is the one thing I won't tolerate," I tell her, but gently. "I belong to me, Angela, no one else. I go where I choose and I do what I please. You're worth a lot more time than I can give you -- but I give you what I can, and affection besides."
"Not love." She states it flatly, and I throw my hands up in frustration and make an irritated little sound.