It started with a list, p.6
It Started with a List, page 6
Jayden raised an eyebrow. “You want to cram in three months everything you shoulda been doing from the jump?”
“Right.”
“That might not be realistic, Laz. You’re my boy and all but can you do this? I mean I know you want to get control of your money back…”
Lazarus took a moment to breathe through that reminder. He had played around so much his parents put Harvey in control of his money.
“You always tell me to listen to my ancestors. This is what they’re saying.” He smiled to lighten the dark mood that had fallen.
“Ah, fuck off.” Jayden rolled his eyes and went back to the food. Now Lazarus couldn’t even smell it.
They grinned but Jayden’s words gnawed at him. He wondered if his lack of focus could be righted so late. What was the point in changing now?
He knew the answer. Chasing fleeting pleasures and distractions left him hollow inside. He needed to do it not just for his father, but also for himself.
There was a banging on the door. Thinking it was his roommate forgetting his key again, Lazarus sauntered over and peeked out the peephole.
“Shit!” Lazarus pressed himself to the door. “No, no, no. Shit!”
“What’s wrong?” Jayden leaned over as Lazarus dashed toward his bedroom.
“Lazarus, I know you’re in there!”
Jayden scratched his dreads. “Who is that?”
Hopping up and down as he tried to get his shoe on, Lazarus tripped and tumbled to the floor. “Terri… the tutor stalker.”
“Oh shit!”
It was fitting. Just as he was turning things around, the past was coming back to haunt him.
“So… great party?”
Vassa glared at Kiki before stabbing her eggs. Dara opened and closed her mouth before cutting into her french toast.
“Fucking rad, I gotta say,” Kiki continued and took a huge sip of her mimosa. Of course she had gone out and bought more liquor.Vassa narrowed her eyes. “Oh really, it was rad?” She stabbed the eggs again, hard, causing the fork to scrape against the glass plate.
Running into Alexa. Being humiliated in front of Alexa and Lazarus. There was nothing rad about the party to her.“We’re speaking to one another, okay, that’s progress.” Dara nodded as she took a bite of food.
Every time Kiki came, something bad came along with it. Vassa continued scraping her fork across her plate before bringing the food to her mouth.
Kiki flinched at the grating noise before yawning. “I think I’m sensing some tension.”
“Damn right you’re sensing some tension. What the hell is wrong with you? Like seriously, I wanted to leave and you drag me into a dance mob?” Vassa slammed the fork on the table.
“Vassa, calm down. Kiki, take this seriously.” Dara pressed her lips together as her gaze flitted between them.
“I helped her out. It wasn’t a mob, don’t be dramatic.” Kiki took a sip of water.
Vassa blinked rapidly and shook her head. Kiki had to be on something other than alcohol. “You had no right to steal my list and then show it to the public.”
“I got you and that hot guy, Larry, together. Dara’s right, he totally wants to get all up in there.” Kiki pointed her finger up and down Vassa. “It was sickening to watch you stand there like a deer in the headlights, and I pulled my good tricks out on him. A party was on your bucket list. I made it fun. I think a thank-you is in order.”
Vassa rubbed her temples, not sure where to start. “Lazarus, his name is Lazarus.”
Kiki shrugged. “Larry, Lamar, Lazarus, who cares what his name is with a face like that? How do you know him, by the way? Why have you not jumped his bones? It doesn’t look like he’s picky.”
“There are a lot of things wrong with that sentence.” Vassa’s hands fell to the table.
Besides the sixth-grade formal, she hadn’t danced with anyone that close. Besides the crippling fear, a tiny, small part of her, for a fleeting second, had fun. She felt this spark. A thrill of something more than what she was used to. But then seeing Alexa killed that flame.
And the way he took control and the attention from her, dammit, she was gonna have to thank him for his help.
“I’m just saying I’m leading you to water but it’s up to you to drink,” Kiki said.
Dara nodded, and Vassa set her sights on her. “You’re agreeing to this?”
Tucking her hair behind an ear, Dara grabbed Vassa by the hands. “Vassa, while I don’t condone my cousin’s actions, it was from a good place. Think about it, that was a big middle finger to Alexa.”
Vassa opened her mouth to argue, but Dara shook her head. “You cannot continue to shut out the world. Obviously, she’s living her life and you need to as well. While I admire your tenacity to save face, you have to admit it was fun… right?”
Vassa frowned at Dara and then at Kiki.
“It was fun,” she grumbled, looking at the table. Alexa seeing her with Lazarus might have felt good, but it wasn’t right to take the low road.
Hours later Vassa was once again staring at a button on a screen. The TV was playing, but she wasn’t paying attention. Dara and Kiki left her to go shopping in The Haight. She had two things she had to submit. Her commencement and her graduate school application.
Shutting the laptop, she picked up the list.
Vassa’s Extraordinary Senior Send-Off
1.Get totally wasted and regret nothing.
2.See all the tourist spots in San Francisco.
3.Have an epic last Spring Break.
4.Do something completely wild.
5.Sneak into a party or event uninvited and pretend to be someone else.
6.Go on a date.
Kiki was right. She could cross “do something completely unexpected” off the list. She bit her lip as she reread the paper. It wouldn’t hurt just to keep going and probably add some more to the list. She thought about the cruel way Alexa looked at her before she went off partying with those other people. Still, she yearned for closure. Why throw our friendship away?
A door slammed loud, shaking the walls. Heavy steps thundered down the stairs along with voices.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Lazarus? I saw you with that girl online!”
Vassa rolled her eyes. Looked like Lover Boy had trouble in paradise.
“You’re lying to me, stop lying!”
“You’re not even supposed to be here,” Lazarus’ muffled voice responded.
She heard a sharp crack! And Vassa gasped. Did the girl hit him?
“I don’t care!”
Whoever she was, she was not a happy camper. She listened to them argue before she heard feet retreating. Closing her eyes, she hit the submit button for her final grad school application. One down, one to go.
There was a knock at her door. Pushing up from the couch and setting her laptop down, she peeked through the peephole and sucked in a breath. There was Lazarus and an unknown girl, both waiting patiently. She took a step back, not sure what this mess could be or if she wanted to be in it.
He knocked once again and said, “I can hear you breathing in there!”
Vassa jerked back. Damn. She opened the door slowly, peeking. “Uh, ah, how are you two doing this afternoon?”
The girl behind him was beautiful. Auburn hair, slim waist, and round hips. His type. The girl narrowed her eyes at Vassa.
“Baby, why are you acting like that?”
Baby? “Baby?” Vassa echoed. Lazarus tugged the door out of her hands. He placed his arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. She looked at him and then at the girl, who looked unconvinced.
“Yes, I was just telling Terri here how I’m in a committed relationship now. She needs to move on.” He blinked his right eye obnoxiously before he turned to Terri. “Vassa confessed her undying love to me last night. Called me her boo and what else? Side piece? That’s right, isn’t it?” His eyes widened and he gave Vassa a pointed look before giving a tense smile to the girl. He must still be drunk.
Terri shook her head. “I don’t believe this.”
“This is real, the love between us—” Vassa’s arms were plastered to her sides. She was horrified.
Lazarus grinned at Terri, scratching his head. “It’s palpable, ain’t it baby?”
Vassa looked at him and he nudged her.
“Oh yes, my burning desire for him was too much to spare,” she said in a robotic tone, “I’m so in love… and displaying affection.” To add some believability, she patted his shoulder before giving it a squeeze.
Lazarus and Vassa gazed at each other before looking back at Terri.
It was crazy, the girl looked like she wanted to burst out in tears. “You know I’ll wait for you.”
“I know you will. You should let me go.” Lazarus took a step back into Vassa’s apartment and began to close the door.
“It’s time, isn’t it?” Terri sniffed and wiped her face.
Vassa thought she was on an acid trip.
Lazarus let out a sigh of relief. “Yes, let me go, I wish you all the best.”
Terri shot Vassa a sneer, taking a step toward her. Vassa and Lazarus stepped back. “You better treat him right, or I don’t know what I’ll do.”
Vassa’s mouth fell open as Terri turned and descended the stairs. Then she snapped out of it, shooting Lazarus a look. “What was that?”
Lazarus shrugged and went into her apartment. “My stalker. You got any chips?”
“You were not invited inside.” A stalker?
Vassa followed him into her kitchen as he opened up the cupboards. Slapping his hand away, she pointed to the stool at the kitchen island and went to the right cabinet. “You don’t deserve any chips.”
She wasn’t giving him her Ruffles, so she gave him the veggie straws. Nobody liked veggie straws. She tossed him the bag and he caught it with one hand.
“Really? After I saved you last night?”
Vassa sighed, leaning against the counter. He looked sleek and cozy in his university sweat suit. It made the ones she wore look frumpy. It was a good thing she got over her crush on him. Otherwise, she would’ve probably been crazy like Terri.
“About that… Don’t let this go to your head and don’t think this will happen again.” Vassa pointed at him as he froze with a straw in his mouth. “Thank you… for your help. Last night. I could have handled it myself, but thank you.” Her face burned as she stared at the counter and seconds passed before she glanced at him. He didn’t need to know about her confrontation with Alexa.
“That took a lot out of you, huh?” He bit noisily into the straw.
“It did. I feel weird too. Like I’m in the Twilight Zone.”
Lazarus laughed, and she shook her head. The way he was smacking on those Veggie Straws made her want some. She tried to grab the bag, but he pressed it to his chest and she said, “I can handle myself. I don’t need a white knight. Just information for the future.”
Rolling his eyes, Lazarus stood up from the stool. “You’re watching The Matrix again?” He walked into her living room and plopped onto her couch, putting his feet up on the coffee table. She leaned over, peeking at her screen and the list.
“What’s that?”
“None of your business.”
Lazarus’s head was directly next to hers. When he leaned closer, she automatically lifted her face. There were freckles on the bridge of his nose. Interesting. She hadn’t noticed it before, but she also didn’t let him this close before. Her lashes fluttered, and she cleared her throat before shifting away.
“You have a place to live. Why are you still here?”
Lazarus sat back on the couch watching young Keanu Reeves kick a li’l ass.
“I came to see how you were handling it.”
“Handling what?”
His eyebrows furrowed. “We went viral. You haven’t seen it?”
What was he talking about? She grabbed her phone off the table and was surprised to see hundreds of red notifications. Vassa never had over twenty likes on a post before. The one she was tagged in had five thousand. The phone slipped from her hand and he caught it. Her muscles went slack as her brain tried to put together what happened.
Lazarus snapped his fingers in her face. “Hello? You okay there?”
Taking the phone back, she rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. It was the video of him and her dancing. Someone from the crowd got the horrified look on her face front and center.
“We’re not famous-famous yet. It’s just around campus but we could end up getting interviewed on Good Morning America.” He shoved three veggie straws in at once.
She scrolled through the comments. Mostly people with laughing emojis, some saying that it was staged, and others with thirst comments for Lazarus.
“How?” Vassa gasped, trying to reaffirm what she was seeing.
He shrugged. “That’s the power of the internet.”
She didn’t know what to say.
“I also came to just see if you were doing okay.” He set the veggie straw bag on the table. Crossing his arms, his gaze lowered to her phone and back up to her eyes. It looked like he was sincere, but when had she ever seen him sincere?
“I’m fine. You don’t have to pretend to care.”
Lazarus frowned. “Who said I’m pretending?”
Ignoring the sharp twist in her stomach at his sharp tone, she forced a half smile. Of course he was just joking. When had he ever been serious about something? Vassa wanted to use that energy from last night to propel her forward. Not backward.
“I’ve never seen you serious about anything, Lazarus. The closest had to have been sophomore year when they banned rice cookers.”
“I had just learned how to make great couscous in it. That’s not the point, I can be serious.”
Vassa raised her eyebrows and continued to scroll. “If you say so.” She cleared her throat. “Is there another reason you’re still here or something? More women you’re dodging?”
Lazarus didn’t comment immediately. He sat back in his chair before he ran a hand through his hair. “Doesn’t look like you have a line waiting for your attention.” He looked around the empty apartment. “What’s wrong with just being in each other’s presence?”
Vassa snatched the veggie sticks from him. “We’re not friends.”
“We can be.”
“What do you want?” Vassa took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes.
“You’re a lit major, right?”
She nodded.
Lazarus let out a breath and leaned back on the couch. “So you read stories and write papers?”
“That’s kinda a requirement of the major.”
His face went from hopeful to evil. That made her suspicious.
“I need help—”
Vassa shook her head and concentrated on her phone. “I’m not writing your paper for you.”
“I need help with a literature class if I want to graduate on time. How would it look if I have to be a fifth-year senior because of one class?”
Vassa thought about the academic probation sheet she saw on his desk the other day. “I’m not a tutor. Why not just go to the tutor center?”
Lazarus made a sour face. “Terri runs the tutor center.”
“Aw.”
“I’ll pay top dollar, and I can even help you.”
Vassa set her phone face down and looked sideways at him. “You can help me? With what?”
Lazarus plucked her list out from under her thigh.
“With this. ‘Get totally wasted, see all the tourist spots in San Francisco, and plan an Epic Spring Break’—”She snatched the paper from his hand, pressed it to her chest.
“I didn’t get to finish reading it.”
“This isn’t some sign-up list.” She bowed her head. Her hair hung over her face, hiding her from his view. She wished there was something to distract him with.
If she was gonna do it, she was gonna do it alone.
“I’m good company,” he said.
She couldn’t tutor him. She already had a part-time job, a full course load, and other things in her life.
“I’m good.” Vassa shook her head.
“My brother is part of a country club in the marina. Perfect place to sneak in…”
That only piqued her interest a bit.
Vassa’s phone buzzed with a new comment. Looking at it, she sucked in a breath.
NotAmazonAlexa: Staged. She’s stiff as a board. I could dance better than that.
Alexa commented. Vassa was both excited and pissed off at the same time.
It was an evil idea to hang out and post videos with Lazarus to piss her ex-bestie off. But it was appealing. Maybe this will finally be the biggest middle finger to Alexa.
“Still, is it fun to do things alone?” Lazarus scooted closer.
Vassa eyed him up and down. “It’s time for you to go.”
Lazarus groaned and snatched at her veggie straws. She pushed him to the door as he turned toward her bedroom. “I’ll take the fire escape. I’m not sure if she really left or not.”
They marched toward her window when he turned, and she bumped into him.
“You’re literally my last hope.” He clasped his hands together, pouted, and stuck out his bottom lip.
“There are other lit majors out there.” She couldn’t handle the puppy dog look. She would break. She looked at the ceiling. “I said thanks for the party. Why draw it out?”
“You’re super smart. I bet you’re at the top of the class.” Lazarus rubbed the hands together. “I could really pimp out your last semester and let you go out with a bang. If not, you can dump me and I take my chances.”
“Just help you pass the class and you’ll help me end with a bang…”
