Chapter Five
NeverMind © 2004
Elijah, Kyla, Dom, Jocelyn and Hannah were the last to arrive at Clear Water. Billy, Orlando and Kate were already there.
“Sorry we’re late,” Jocelyn apologized. “Hannah made me put makeup on.”
“Oh, shut it. You look fabulous,” Hannah said. “This is Billy.”
“I assumed. Nice to meet you,” Jocelyn said.
“Pleasure’s mine, I’m sure,” Billy answered in his Scottish brogue.
“Jocelyn, this is Kate,” Orlando said.
“Hi. Nice to meet you,” Jocelyn told her.
“Nice to meet you. I’m sorry it had to be in these circumstances, though,” Kate said.
“Why’s that?”
“Things get a little crazy when they’re all together like this,” she said with a laugh.
Jocelyn just smiled. “I think I’m game for a little excitement.” She looked over her shoulder to see Dom and Billy hugging each other desperately and pretending to cry. “And here I thought they were just playing it up for the media,” she said.
“Oh no, they’re the genuine article,” Kate told her. “Just wait till they get going – you’ll be laughing so hard you won’t be able to walk.”
Orlando approached the table with two drinks in his hand. “I asked Lij what you drank. I hope he was right,” he said to her.
“Corona and lime, just right,” she said with a glance and a nod in Elijah’s direction.
“So, tell me all about yourself,” Kate said as they settled into the big booth. “Orli said you’re an amazing singer.”
Jocelyn told Kate as much about herself as she had time for before their food came and Dom and Billy cut in on them.
“Enough girl talk!” Dom declared. “We want to know all the gruesome stories you have about our Elwood.”
Jocelyn laughed. “I don’t know that I have any gruesome stories. You probably have more than I do from New Zealand alone!”
“Well, that is true. But we want to know about his secret life as a superhero,” Billy said.
“You know, it’s funny you should mention him being a superhero. In preschool he used to run around in a red cape calling himself ‘Captain Fabuloso’.”
“Oh god,” Elijah groaned. “Don’t give them more ammunition, please!”
“Captain Fabuloso! That’s bloody brilliant!” Dom said between sobs of laughter.
“Don’t make me tell them about the toilet paper incident,” Elijah threatened her.
“You can tell them any story you want, hon. You’ll incriminate yourself in most of them anyway,” she retorted.
“Not in that one I don’t.”
“If you tell that one, you’ll force me to tell them about the worm fiasco.”
“Don’t keep us in suspense! Tell us!” Billy insisted.
“How old were you again? Like 5 or 6 or something?” Elijah started.
“Don’t you dare!” Jocelyn laughed.
“You were mad at your mom so you took every roll of toilet paper in the house and stuffed most of them down the toilet and the rest you decorated the bathroom with,” he finished. “It was like a giant roll of toilet paper had exploded all over the bathroom. Your mom was furious!”
“You asked for it,” she said. “We were visiting you here in LA and you decided you were going to show me a really cool trick you’d learned on set from Mel Gibson. You dug up about eight worms out of the garden and started putting them in your mouth but they were still alive and squirming. You got greener and greener, but you kept putting them in your mouth until you finally barfed all over me.”
“Ew!” everyone at the table exclaimed practically in unison.
As the stories continued, Kyla got sadder and sadder. She just kept thinking – how in the world could I compete with this? They have so much history and she’s just so – so beautiful. I’m gonna have to break up with him, she thought and almost started crying but caught herself and pretended to be enjoying the conversation.
When they had finished eating, they piled into their cars and headed over to Dom’s favorite club. Jocelyn and Hannah hardly left the dance floor. Kate and Kyla wandered back and forth from them to the guys and back again. The guys mostly congregated in a dark corner, talking and people watching. Dom and Billy occasionally joined the girls on the floor.
Jocelyn looked up just as Elijah went to light a cigarette. His features glowed red in the sudden flame and her breath caught in her throat. What was that? She wondered. Just then Dom sidled up to her and started dancing with her. Now here was a very cool guy, she thought. He’s absolutely hilarious and completely adorable to boot. Best crooked smile ever! She thought in her best imitation of the Comic Book Guy. She glanced over at Elijah again. He didn’t look very happy and neither did Kyla. She hoped everything was okay.
“Just take me home,” Kyla told Elijah at the end of the night. Dom, Hannah and Jocelyn were giggling about something or other in the back seat.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “Dom can stay at the other house.”
“No, that’s okay. You’re spending the day with Jocelyn tomorrow anyway.”
“I hope that’s okay,” Jocelyn piped up.
“Oh yeah, that’s fine,” Kyla lied.
“Okay, if you’re sure,” Elijah said and made the turn towards her house.
“I’m sure. Just call me tomorrow, kay?’
“Yeah, of course.”
When they finally returned to the Wood residence, it was close to 3 in the morning.
“Good night, Dom,” Jocelyn said, hugging him. “Thanks for a fantastic evening.”
“You’re more than welcome. We’ll do it again sometime,” he said, letting the hug last a little longer than it probably should have.
“Night, Lij,” Jocelyn turned to her friend. “See you in the morning?”
“Yeah, absolutely,” he answered.
She hugged him and kissed his cheek. “I like not having to say good bye.”
“You stopped saying good bye years ago,” he told her.
“You know what I mean. Have a good sleep.”
“You too.”
She and Hannah slipped into the house and up to their rooms, leaving Dom and Elijah to trudge across the yard to Elijah’s place.
“Oh, hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you something,” Dom said.
“Right. What’s up?”
“I was wondering if you think it would be okay if I asked Jocelyn out.”
Elijah hesitated. He hadn’t really expected that. Well, he had, but he hadn’t.
“I mean, it’s okay if you don’t want me to, but I just thought…”
“No, man, it’s cool. You can ask her out – I think that’d be good.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure. It’s all good.”
“I mean, I really like her, you know? She’s funny and talented and she’s not creeped out by my pets. And she’s beautiful, man. She’s fucking gorgeous.”
“I know.”
“You sure you’re okay with it?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re not going to secretly hate me for the rest of your life, are you?”
“No.”
“Okay. Then I’ll feel her out a little more, yeah? See if she’d actually be interested. Let me know what she says if you say anything to her.”
“Yeah, I will.”
Dom went to sleep rather excited, but Elijah couldn’t get the sour taste out of his mouth.