Page 17 of Bed of Roses

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As the day wound down and the sun changed places with the moon it got really cold, really fast. I gave up trying to push the gingerbread cookies so I could try to stay warm for a few minutes near the fire pit. I had been lulled by the warmth barely paying attention to the conversations around me, until a mouthy DJ and his sidekick’s voices breezed just past my shoulder.

“Just admit it, you fucked her. Why do you keep denying it? I could see it all over her face.”

“Raven—back off. I’m warning you.”

“Look I’m fucking thrilled. It’s about time you moved on from Jen. You know—getting over one by getting under another.”

Bear actually laughed. Like a real, out loud, belly laugh.

Fucking bastard.

I had twenty bucks shoved in my bra, so that I could have dinner at the end of my shift. But you know what, this would be worth going home hungry. That asshole. That entitled, arrogant, prick.

“Are you guys still taking donations for requests?” I asked Raven just before they put their headphones back on.

“Yep, dollar a song.” She motioned towards the red bucket at the end of their table. “Drop your money in the bucket. You can write down your songs on the paper.”

“Oh, I don’t need to write anything down. Here’s twenty bucks…” I held up my twenty and waived it so they could President Jackson’s pretty face. “Going in the pot.”

“Okay?” Bear looked at me, confusion etched across his face.

“So, what twenty songs do you want?” Raven asked, taking the pad of paper off the table.

“I don’t want twenty songs. All I want, is one single song. Over and again allfuckingnight until the twenty bucks is spent.”

Bear gaped at me, mouth agog.

“’AllIWant for Christmas, is You’,” by Mariah Carey.”

I gave Bear my middle finger, and stormed off.

Fuck him and his fucking song.

13

The scene played out in my head on repeat, just like that mother fucking song. I should have run after her. That was my mistake. If I had told Raven to handle thirty minutes by herself, I could have found her and talked to her about what happened. Now she wouldn’t answer my calls or texts, and she hung up on me when I tried calling the Dashing Haberdashery and refused to answer her door when I tried to go to her house. Raven swore to me on our friendship she hadn’t said anything to Marley that would have upset her.

“You look like shit.” Raven pushed my feet off of our conjoined desks, slumping into the chair across from me. “And you’ve been in a mood since Saturday.”

“I don’t want to talk about it Raven.”

For a moment I briefly considered sending her a message through Instagram, but since we we’re not actually connected on our social media platforms, I didn’t want her freaked out thinking I was like cyber stalking her.

“So, you’re admitting there is something worth talking about?”

“No, I told you it was no big deal. I took her on her dinner date and that was it. I can’t help it if she has a crush like everyone else in this fucking town.”

My words sounded hollow even to me. Raven went so quiet I thought she had gotten up and left, but when I looked away from my computer she was still there, staring at me.

“What?”

I was testy. She hadn’t over exaggerated. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I felt, anxious, like in my chest. That was the only word I could use to accurately describe it. I had been sleeping. I checked my phone with an obsession that rivaled a prepubescent teenager.

“I think you’re into her. Like really into her.”

“Mind your business Raven.”

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