Seven

So there I was, walking home with an armful of groceries. My parents didn't tell me to pick up much, but they did ask for milk, eggs, a jug of juice and cereal—all of those really heavy grocery items that tend to rip the plastic bags. So a walk that would have taken me about ten minutes took twice as much time. I mean, I had to walk very carefully; practically tip-toeing my way to my front door. There was someone waiting on my doorstep: a tall girl with very light and shiny brown hair, wearing a pair of tight black fitted jeans and a pink halter top. Valentina Burkhart hadn't noticed me coming up behind her.

"Are you just going to stand there all day, or are you going to help me?" I said, grinning.

"Oh you're hilarious." She said, whipping her head at me. "Where were you last night?"

"You mean, I didn't go to your place?" I asked, dumfounded. Bart had just told me that mentioned going to Val's house last night.

"No, you didn't." she said, hands on hips. "I waited around for about an hour before I tried calling you, but your parents said you went out. So where were you?"

"I have no clue." I said, shrugging. "I woke up this morning in my bed, but I couldn't remember what I did last night, or how I got home."

Val relaxed a bit. I guess she thought I ditched her for someone else, which I thought was unlikely. I have never once ditched Val because I had something better to do. In fact, I try to find excuses to see her more often than I already do.

"You can't remember anything?" she asked.

I shook my head. "All I remember is leaving the store after work. I came home and I was supposed to watch my neighbour's kids, but she didn't go to work. I left the house and…nothing."

"Alright…that's weird…"

"Sorry that I was MIA last night." I said, putting down a bag and grabbing for my keys. I unlocked the door and let Val into the house. We were greeted by my dog, Devlin. "Dev, calm down—leave Val alone…So what's up?"

Val shrugged and took a seat on one of our leather couches. "Well I came by to see what was up with you, but apparently, you can't remember…So, I was thinking we should head to the mall."

I feigned a look of annoyance. "Really, you want to go to the mall again? Why don't they just give you the keys to the place?"

"Hey, you owe me." Val said, grinning. "I was sitting all by my lonesome in my room, with nothing to do. Can you imagine how hurt I was?" She pretended to be upset and folded her arms. She even made this really cute pouty face, it was great!

"I am so sorry, Ms. Valentina Burkhart." I cried, falling to my knees. "Will you ever forgive me for my utter ass-holery?"

Val pretended to think about it for a second, and then nodded. "I will…but only if you agree to shop with me and carry my bags."

"Yes, oh beautiful Valentina. I am the dirt beneath your feet; the dust that you find underneath your bed; the—"

"Don't try to suck up to me, Mr." Val said, pulling herself to her feet and walking towards the front door. "It's going to take a lot to make it up to me."

What can I say, I turn to putty when Val's around; so sue me! So I followed her around the mall all afternoon and I carried her bags, big deal? Does that make me her lap dog? Does that make me some lost puppy that does tricks for his master all day and expects to get a treat? No…it makes me a good friend. Val and I are close friends; that's it. Sure, I wish that we could be closer, but it's just not going to happen. So I try to hang out with her as much as I can. If that means walking around with her while she shops, big deal. If I have to watch her cry over some guy that broke her heart then that's what I'll do. You can say whatever you want about our relationship—that I'm Val's bitch, or whatever—but I could hardly care less. Because, you see, I'm the guy walking around with the gorgeous brunette in the mall. I'm the one that makes you think, what are those two doing together? Are they dating? I'm the guy that makes all the other guys jealous, because I get to be with her…Even if our relationship is completely, totally and utterly platonic…

"Alright, I'm going to try these on," Val said, grabbing a few tops and skirts. "I'll be back in a few minutes, and you can tell me what you think."

"Make it fast," I mumbled, pretending to be annoyed, like I had somewhere else to be—which I didn't.

Val winked and walked off to the women's change room. I waited until after she disappeared to fall back into one of those couches that some of the more "hip" clothing stores have. You know the ones—the stores like Abercrombie and Fitch, with their dark interior, good looking salesmen and saleswomen, and those stage lights? This place was going for that underground, teenaged club sort of look; with stage lights and leather couches, and things like that. It was actually one of the best shops in the mall, really. Though, I've never been one to shop for designer labels. And, as I sat there on the most comfortable couch on the planet, I started looking around the store. There were all sorts of guys, all of them following these really attractive girls around, like me. Some of them were guys from my school—you know, freshman and sophomores trying to get into some girls pants by following them around all day, unlike me… I recognized a lot of them, too—Bradley Baker, from home room; David Shepherd, some new kid who moved here from somewhere in the states; and another kids whose name escaped me…I think it was Larry, or Lucas…

"Wait a minute…" I said, getting to my feet.

I don't know what it was, really. I just looked at the kid and I got this weird feeling, like I had seen him before. I mean, I have seen him before, in the halls at school, but…I don't know how to explain it. It's sort of like how you sometimes think you've already done something once before, like in another life or something. I took one look at Larry or Lucas and thought, something big happened with this kid…Something really big… So I walked over to him.

"Hey…" I tapped Lucas or Larry on the shoulder. He turned around and looked at me with this really blank expression. "We know each other…right?"

"Yea, we go to the same school." He said, somewhat snappishly. He looked pretty annoyed. Maybe I should leave him alone…

"Yea…I've seen you around." I said, lamely. "Look…I don't know how to explain this, but—"

"Alright, we can go; they don't have anything I like…" a girl said, walking up to Lucas.

She was about 5'5 in height; she barely reached my chest, and was not quite as tall as Larry or Lucas. She had black hair and a pair of pretty green eyes. I didn't think she was incredibly beautiful or anything, but she was pretty. She was definitely younger than me, but had we been the same age, I would have asked her out.

"I know you…" I said to her. "We know each other…"

The girl looked up at me with raised eyebrows. "I'm sorry…I don't think we do…Come on Lucas…"

"Yea we do…" I insisted, following the two of them out of the store. "I know the both of you from…somewhere…"

"I already told you, we go to the same school," Lucas snapped. "Now can you leave us alone?"

"Madison!" I shouted. "Your name is Madison!"

Madison looked a little nervous. "How do you know my name?"

"We know each other…" I insisted. "I can't remember…it had something to do with Lucas…Yea, something like that."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Lucas said, shaking his head. "Just leave us alone, will you?"

"How'd you get the black eye?" I asked, curiously.

"What…this?" Lucas asked, touching his left eye. It looked as though he had been hit in the face. It wasn't anything serious, it looked mostly faded. But it was just noticeable. "It's nothing."

"Fischer and Black, do those names mean anything to you?" I shouted as the two of them walked away.

Madison stopped walking and turned to face me. "Brett Fischer?"

"How do you know Fischer?" Lucas asked.

"I don't…but it sort of feels like I do." She shook her head in frustration. "I've been feeling weird all day. It's like…like…"

"Like you can't remember the last few hours of your life?" I finished.

"Yea…I woke up this morning and I couldn't remember what I did the other night."

"What about you, Luke?" I asked. "Can you remember what you did last night?"

"Not really…" he mumbled. "But so what? Obviously I fell down, or something and hit my head."

"But you don't really believe that, right?" I insisted. "You know, deep down, that something really weird happened last night…And we're not the only ones. Whatever we were doing last night—whatever happened with the three of us—we weren't alone."

"Alright, you're nuts." Lucas said. "Come on, your dad probably wants us home by now."

"Madison," I said quickly. "Lucas lives with you, right?"

"This is getting really annoying!" Lucas snapped.

"Your dad runs some sort of Bed and Breakfast, right?" I asked, ignoring Lucas' comment.

Madison's eyes grew wide. "He rents out rooms."

I turned to Lucas. "How would I know that?"

"That's easy," He said. "You're obviously stalking her. I'd appreciate it if you'd stop now."

"I don't know, Lucas. He might have a point. I mean, you suddenly wake up with bruises all over your body. I know things that I shouldn't. And now Darren's asking all these questions…" she shook her head. "Something weird is going on here."

"Exactly!" I said. "All morning I've been trying to figure out what I did last night. I'm thinking that we can help each other out."

"You're both nuts." Lucas said, shaking his head, furiously.

"Well, you know what they say," I grinned. "Birds of a feather, share a nut house."