S.L.T./Anthony "Ant" Vaughn

five

Amerie, Quinni, and I had to Darren's house after school. Amerie is helping Quinni attempt to put on fake lashes. Darren's reading some novel their dad is working on.

"Can you believe my dad actually wrote this?" They ask. "'Grease. Long hair. The throbbing motorcycle and the open road beyond. Her flannel shirt whips him like an animal. Clinging on for dear life.'"

"How does a flannel shirt whip someone like an animal?" Quinni asks.

"It's poetry, hon," I tell her.

"Oh," Quinni says.

"Hey. Are you sure about this?" Darren asks her.

"Yeah. No, I want to do it," Quinni assures.

Amerie finishes gluing the lashes on. "How you feeling?"

Quinni sits still for a moment. "No. No, get them off. Get them off."

Darren takes off one eyelash as I take off the other. Quinni relaxes after a moment.

"How many girlfriends has Sasha had?" Quinni asks.

"God, like, fifty?" I tell her.

"And you're worried about your flaps," Amerie remarks.

Darren clears their throat.

"Oh. None of them meant anything," Amerie assures.

"Do you think I'll mean something?" Quinni asks.

"Oh, please. You mean everything," Darren tells her. They go back to reading their dad's book. "Listen to this. 'He imagined the... He imagined the blokes on the field like the crest of a wave grunting and sweating as they came towards him.'" Darren thrusts their ass into the wall faking an orgasm. "'Crashing over him. Wrestling the ball from his grasp.' Okay, this is softcore. I could actually get into..."

A man, I'm guessing their dad, steps into the room. "Did I say you could read that?"

"What? Your great Australian novel?" Darren asks.

"You buggered up the page order," their dad says. "Do I do this to your stuff, huh?" He picks something up. "Do you see me grabbing your stuff?"

"No, because that's my douche," Darren says.

"Jesus, Darren," their dad says before walking out of the room.

"That was a bit harsh," Amerie tells Darren.

"Well, okay..." Darren says.

As I turn into my driveway I spot Ant talking to Harper in front of his house. By the time I make it out of my car and to the front door I hear Ant call out to me.

"Sage."

"Saw you talking to Harper," I tell him.

"What happened with you two anyway?" Ant asks.

"I don't know," I confess. "You ever have someone who you love with everything you've got just turn on you for no reason?"

"I thought maybe it was because of the map," Ant tells me.

"It's not the map," I tell him. "It had to have happened before that." Ant nods his head. "Why are you sitting outside instead of in your house?"

"Hiding. Mum's still angry about the whole map shit," Ant tells me. "I got one wristy."

"Imagine what she would say if what you and I have eben doing made it on the map," I reason.

Ant shakes his head. "I would only be let out of the house to go to church."