Ginger woke up in the morning and sat up. She stretched�the daylight was flowing into the room where she had crashed the night before. Mr. Hot Shot Zac Hanson was still in the bed with her. Parts of her felt rather guilty, but other parts of her were just fine. They hadn't done anything too serious. They were really close when he got overwhelmed and made her stop. She wouldn't have gone all the way with him when she'd just met him, be it her five-year celebrity crush or not. Not the first time. Maybe if they met again.
She got out of the bed and found her shoes across the room. Yawning, she covered her mouth and walked towards the door, her shoes clunking on her feet. She was still tired but she needed to find Kris and get home. As she reached for the doorknob, she heard Zac wake up behind her. She couldn't leave without saying goodbye, could she?
"Hey, you," she said. "Good morning."
"Hey," he said, getting out of the bed. "Where are you going?"
"Well, as lovely as it seems to spend all day in that bed with you, I have things to do. I have to find Kris and get a ride home."
"I'll take you home." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Seriously."
"Do you have time?" she asked. "I know you were just passing through town and all�"
"I think I went against that when I decided to spend the night with you." He opened the door. "After you." She walked ahead of him into the trashed house. There were kids lying around, passed out, and in the distance a very amazed teenager who was stuck with the chore of cleaning up the mess. Zac and Ginger left quickly, as to not get involved in the chore, and found Zac's car among the many others still parked in the driveway, on the lawn, and down the street.
"Poor kid," Zac muttered as he opened the car door for Ginger. She agreed and got inside, sitting down in the nice, new, and expensive car.
"Must be nice," she whispered as Zac was walking around the car to the driver's side. He got in and she gave him a smile. "Do you even remotely know your way around this town?" He shook his head. "All right." She began spitting out directions and he took them with a smile on his face; this girl was definitely nothing he'd ever known before. Despite the fact that they'd spent the night together, she wasn't easy and he knew it. He wasn't the kind of person to do that either, but she was different and that was clear from the moment he saw her across the room the night before.
When he pulled up to a tiny townhouse in a not-so swanky development, he grew slightly confused. It seemed too picture-perfect for her. Kids were down the street playing hopscotch and drawing on the sidewalk with chalk, taking advantage of the beautiful Sunday morning. Parents were waiting on their porches with Kool-Aid and Rice Crispie Treats as a snack. Ginger didn't fit it at all.
"Thanks for the ride," she said, getting out of the car. He got out as well and the act seemed to shock her. "Do you want to come inside and�brush your teeth or something? Take a shower?"
"Maybe just for a drink," he said.
"I think you better brush your teeth," she said. "Your breath stinks."
"I would say the same for you." She grinned and ran up the steps to her front door. She opened it�it was unlocked�and went inside. The place was a wreck.
"I'm sorry for the mess," she said, waving her hand, "but I live here."
"That's quite all right."
"Follow me." She ran up the stairs to the second floor, him close behind. She turned on a light in the bathroom. "Lucky you, we just went to the dentist so we have plenty of unused toothbrushes. No icky germs for you." She opened a drawer and took out one of the cheap dentist toothbrushes and handed it to him. "I'm going to change." She went across the hall, pulling off her shirt along the way. He didn't look. She shut the door as he brushed his teeth and appeared when he was done in something else. He looked over.
"Look at you," he said, grinning. "Is this how you normally dress?"
"Indeed." She was wearing a black tank top and short dark blue ragged jean shorts. She was skinner than she'd appeared to be in last night's conservative clothing, and her shirt accented that. "Out of my way." She hip checked him away from the sink and grabbed her toothbrush and began to brush her teeth.
"So is your house always this messy or did I just come at a bad time?" he asked, glancing around. It wasn't dirty, just messy. Things were strewn about all over the place but the corners were free from dirt and the place smelled quite clean.
"Yes."
"My mother would freak out if our home was like this."
"Do you have a problem with the way I live?" she asked, shooting him a look, her voice slightly garbled from her toothbrush. "I'm sorry if I don't have the time to make sure every last thing is picked up and put in its proper place."
"Well, I�I just�I'm sorry. I'm being rude." She rinsed her mouth out in the sink and put her toothbrush away.
"And slightly snobby." She crinkled her freckled pale nose. " 'My mother would freak if our home was like this�' Screw you."
"I did apologize."
"Whatever." She ran out of the bathroom and went down the stairs. Zac reluctantly followed.
"Where the FUCK have you been, kid?" a guy across the room yelled as Ginger appeared. "You tell me you're running to the corner store for ice cream and you never came back!"
"Fuck you, Alex," she muttered, walking to the refrigerator in the kitchen. The kitchen was the cleanest room in the house. "I went to a party with Kristina."
"You never told me about any party." Alex looked at Zac. "Who are you?"
"That's Zac, just ignore him, he'll be leaving in a minute."
"Oh, so he's the reason you were gone all night?"
"It's not of your concern. Zac, did you want something to drink?"
"I really think I should�"
"Don't let him make you uncomfortable. He's an asshole. You said you'd come in for a drink, what would you like? We've got orange juice, milk, water, we don't drink soda so I'm sorry about that."
"Orange juice would be just fine," he said, glancing at Alex.
"I'm going to work, kid. I'll be back at seven, and when I get back this house better fucking well be picked up. Social Services is going to be here at seven-thirty and if the see the place like this one more time you'll wake up tomorrow in a foster home." Alex left and Ginger froze at the fridge, her face hidden by the door, tears in her eyes. She shook her head, wiped at her eyes, and pulled out the orange juice. She poured two glasses and turned to Zac. He was sitting at the counter, silent.
"Here you go," she whispered.
"Thank you."
There was a long silence as the two barely touched their orange juice. Ginger was obviously trying to fight back tears and Zac was obviously trying not to notice. He saw her hands shaking. "I didn't mean for you to hear that," she said. "He doesn't know what he says sometimes."
"Who is he?"
"He's my brother. I've just got a couple more months until I'm eighteen and then I won't have to worry about any of this, but until then, social services is always looking at us."
"Where are your parents?"
"They died a few years ago," she said. "He's been taking care of me since then, but lately things haven't exactly been going well between us. I've always been a little rebellious, even when my parents were alive, but as of late I've been really bad and we've clashed. We just don't get along anymore�as you can tell."
"Oh."
"And it's not like I want to be away from my brother and stuffed into an overcrowded foster home with wicked strict rules. I just don't get along with him sometimes." He didn't say anything. "I'm sure you want to go�"
"Well, before I do," he said, "can I have your number?" She grinned.
"What's in it for me?"
"I promise to come back soon and make everything all better," he told her. She grabbed a piece of paper that was lying around and a pen and scrawled out her phone number, putting 'Ginger' down below it. He looked at it. "What's your real name?"
"It doesn't matter now." She handed the paper. He put it in his pocket and the two of them walked over to the front door. "Are you really going to come back and make everything better or are you just trying to make me feel better?"
"I promise you I will make everything better." He gave her a kiss. She giggled a bit and kissed him back. He tasted like a minty fresh orange. He slid his hands down her back, resting on the back pockets of her shorts. He lingered onto her as long as he could before he let go of her. "I have to go."
"When will I see you again?"
"Soon."
He opened the door and went out into the beautiful day. She watched, leaning against the doorframe, as he left with blue skies, chirping birds, and laughing children while she remained in the spot between both worlds; the beautiful day and her messy, broken home. She stayed there until he was gone, expensive car and all, then closed the door and began to pick up random things in the front room that made the house look the wreck it was.
She found a cordless phone on the floor and decided to call someone. "Kris? Hey, it's me." She picked up the turned over chairs and discarded mail. "I spent the night with him. He just left, in fact; he brought me home. He was a perfect gentleman, well, besides the whole us nearly having sex part. Yeah, we didn't really have sex. We were close. No, I kept my clothes on. We were still close, though. Yeah, he met Alex. Of course Alex was an asshole. This house was fine when I left yesterday and he fucking messed all of it up and leaves me to clean it before Social Services comes at seven-thirty. Sometimes I wonder if he even remembers that he's the reason this house looks like it does. No, he didn't look drunk. Not this time. He had to go to work, and he can't afford to get fired again, so I don't think he goes to work drunk anymore. If those damn people understood what an ass he is they'd take me out of here as quick as all hell, but I don't want to go to some foster home."
She collapsed onto the couch in the trashed living room and decided against cleaning at the moment. "I'm sick of living like this. I can't wait until I'm out of here. Are you ready for school? I'm not. I don't know how I'm going to make it another year in school." She pulled up her knees. "Zac's cool. He was in the room when Alex yelled at me about the house and mentioned the bloody SS are coming this afternoon. I almost cried I was so embarrassed. I was afraid he would just walk out on me right there once he heard that but he said he was going to make everything better for me. I gave him my number and he said he'd come back soon. I won't hold my breath. But it's definitely not every day that a girl like me gets someone like him."