Page 103 of Dream Girl
“I have for most of my life. Learning complicated pieces was a great way to work out frustrations.” Especially sexual ones. The problem with having a dream boyfriend was that we both needed to beasleepto hook up.
He gestured to the piano.
I startedTurkish March,letting my fingers take off across a keyboard that was hopefully the same. I remembered playing the piano. They probably had different pieces here, but that could be fun to learn.
The piano felt the same. Sounded the same. Playing feltgood.Normal even.
Finishing, I looked over at him. “What do you think?”
“I think you and Katie need to play duets. She likes that fast shit. Brennan plays, too. He likes the stuff that just sounds hard.” He grinned back. “Let’s go find Rose.”
We went over to a small table where a redhead was making a necklace out of tiny beads.
“Rose, this is Grace,” Evan introduced. “Grace needs to learn to make those bracelets.”
“Hi! I do need a birthday present for Wes,” I agreed.
We raided the art supplies and made bracelets, Evan going off to do his thing.
“Thanks for helping choose the clothes and lights for me,” I told her as I found the beads for our initials.
“I’m glad you like them. It’s fun shopping with Ri,” she told me. “I miss my friends.”
“I’m sure you do. Do they text you?” I asked her. Did I miss mine? I remembered that my colleagues and I would sometimes do things, like go to the bar for trivia night or have movie marathons. There were girls from undergrad that I kept up with. I had a good time with some of my classmates when I was getting my PhD. But did I havefriends?
“Oh yes. One of my friends, who’s an omega, is going to see if she can come to the school, too, next year. We’re both flyers. Finchley goes all the way through undergrad with amazing acceptance rates to grad programs and even med school!” She looked a bit giddy.
“Oh, I was a flyer for my cheer squad both in high school and college.” I didn’t really like it. But I was good at it, and it made other people like me–something that was important to my mom. It kept my mom off my back and gave me a reason to leave the house without argument. Also, it helped fund my undergrad and gave me an instant set of friends in college.
A few other teenagers joined us, and I ended up teaching everyone how to make friendship bracelets out of embroidery floss.
Her phone vibrated, but instead of getting an excited look, her face fell.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“My sister wants me to come home and get a job,” she told me. “She won’t let up. She thinks waiting to take a mate is stupid, and if I’m going to wait, then I should come home and help.”
“Rose, listen to me carefully–do not set yourself on fire to keep others warm.I know that there are extraneous circumstances, but it isn’t your job. Don’t give up your future,” I explained, adding another row to my bracelet.
“That’s what my stepdad says. To stay and get a good education. But…” her phone went off again, and Rose winced.
“The guilt is hard. But sometimes the best thing to do is focus on yourself. It doesn’t make you selfish,” I assured her.
Rose looked at her phone. “Oh no. She’s here, and she wants to see me.”
“You don’t have to see her,” I replied, as I finished up my bracelet.
“I don’t?” She frowned. The war in her eyes tore at my soul.
I shook my head. “Family doesn't mean necessity. It’s not your job to take care of your siblings, it’s not hers either, and it’s unfair for the both of you.”
“I’ll talk to her.” Rose sighed. “Let me clean up.”
She started to clean up her stuff, and I helped her.
“Change of plans. Wes is taking you on a date tonight,” Evan told me. “We’ll get the stuff for the cake, and his present, and hit the home store tomorrow morning.”
“Oh, okay. A date? Where are we going? What do I wear?” I’d been looking forward to a trip to the home store, but a date sounded fun.
