Something About Sam

Chapter 6

The next day, Sam had to meet with my dad and the committee to go over the schedule for the carnival. It was a mere 24 hours away.

While Sam was planning his big debut, I was at work. I was a "nurse" at our local animal clinic. I left the house before anyone had even dreamt about waking up, my 12-hour shift allowing me to arrive back home around dinner time.

When I walked in through the back door, Sam, Marley, Lottie, and Sarah were gathered around the kitchen table eating Chinese takeout.

My sister didn't even have to turn around to know I had walked in; the chime on the backdoor told her so. "Your plate is in the oven, Taite." No one else bothered to address me.

I ruffled Marley's hair as I walked by her, dinner plate in hand. She glanced back at me, smiling quickly before joining back into the conversation. I took the seat next to Sarah and joined their dinner wordlessly.

Looking up at the group, I caught Sam's eyes almost immediately. Across the table, he smiled at me softly, his eyes not straying anxiously away from me like they did when I first met him. I smiled back.

"Taitey," Marley was addressing me now, the syllables in my name crunching with the fortune cookie she had just popped in her mouth. I glanced at her with eyebrows raised. She swallowed, continuing. "Keith's brother asked about you again today."

"Good god," I heard myself mumble. Keith's brother had this strange habit of flirting with me. His name was Patrick, and I used to tutor him for extra credit in calculus class. He was what you would call a persistent kid. He used to ask me on dates. I told him I wasn't interested in, uh, men, but that never stopped him.

Sam, who had been relatively quiet since I arrived, opened his mouth. "Are you in trouble, Taite?"

Sam's genuine concern for me was outshined by Sarah's burst of heinous laughter. Marley's lighter, sweeter giggle blended with Sarah's. I rolled my eyes, keeping my mouth shut, knowing one of them would come up with something witty in response.

"Yeah, he's in big trouble," Marley smiled with her words. "This boy's crush on you is getting bad, Taite."

"No," I deadpanned. "What did he say?"

Sarah was still laughing, so Marley had a hard time quieting herself enough to get the words out. "He..." she paused, catching her breath. "He told me you were his soul mate."

I groaned, my head falling into my hands, my elbows falling on the table, one of them landing in a puddle of soy sauce that Sarah had spilled. "Please tell me this is a cruel joke." I peeked at my best friend through the gaps in the fingers covering my eyes.

She shrugged, fading laughter still present on her lips. "Well you are adorable, Taite. Who can blame him?"

This comment had the table erupt in laughter. Personally, I didn't think anything she said was funny. For some reason, my eyes drifted towards Sam. He wasn't laughing either.

I stood up from the table, grabbing my half-eaten Chinese food. "Sammy," his eyes snapped up to mine. "Want to go for a ride?" He nodded feverishly, following my lead, trailing me to the kitchen sink. We put our dishes in the dishwasher silently, Marley and Sarah's banter flooding in and out of our ears. As we were heading out the back door, a sweet British accent broke my stride.

"Taite, Sam, can I come with you?"

I didn't have a chance to answer. Sam had shut the back door so quickly you would have thought he was running from something.

I looked over my shoulder at him, my eyes forming narrowed, confused slits. He smiled at me sheepishly in response, his pale skin flooding with color like usual. He threw an arm around my shoulder, following me to my truck.

He said nothing about his sister, or Keith's brother, or even the Chinese food. With his arm still slung around my shoulders, he looked at me, his face inches from mine.

"So, how was your day?"

He was the first person to show genuine interest in my wellbeing all night. My arm fell around his waist, pulling him tighter to me. "Dude," I said, shaking my head. "Where have you been all my life?"

__

That night, I drove Sam around Blue Falls, pointing out the landmarks of my childhood and teenage years: the high school, the animal clinic, where I had my first kiss (under the cherry tree at Clint Park with Lucy Eastwood in 2012,) and Mr. Henderson's farm, the location of tomorrow's carnival.

Like usual, Sam was nervous. "You'll be great," I said to him, the two of us walking upstairs to my bedroom later that evening. "You've headlined at Madison Square Garden, Sam. Blue Falls will be no problem for you."

He closed my bedroom door behind us, watching as I fell into the beanbag opposite his seat on the edge of my bed. He sighed deeply.

"It's easy to perform when the crowd is just a faceless, nameless blur. But tomorrow..."

"Tomorrow won't be a problem," I encouraged him. "The crowd will be small. Blue Falls is like 5,000 people. And half of those people are elderly folks in the retirement community. No offense, but I don't think they'll be coming out." Sam laughed at that. "Besides," I swallowed down something that made my throat itch. "I'll be there." My voice was a quiet, intimate sound that I never meant to use. Sam's cheeks were burning red. I scrambled to fix it. "And Sarah and Marley and Lottie and Keith and everyone," the words tumbled ungracefully out of me. "You have no reason to worry."

He nodded, then got off the bed and began riffling through his suitcase. I watched as he changed into a t-shirt, leaving only his boxers before he climbed into the side of my bed he had been occupying the past few nights.

"I should get some rest."

He looked at me for confirmation. I then realized I had been staring at him. Quickly, I turned away. "Yeah," I said, trying my best to sound extremely casual. "Sounds good." 

Stripping down to my boxers, I got in beside him.

I didn't bother reminding him of the bedroom in the carriage house that had been waiting for him ever since he got here.

__

My father whisked Sam away after breakfast. The carnival didn't start until 12, but apparently "things needed to be done". Sarah and I sat silently at the kitchen table, finishing the remainder of the buffet my mother had set out for Sam's "big day."

"So what's the deal?"

I didn't even pretend to know what my sister was talking about. "Sarah, you're going to have to elaborate."

"I've noticed you're getting pretty close to a particular Ford child." In typical Sarah fashion, she had one perfectly plucked eyebrow raised, a knowing smirk on her lips. She was already dressed and ready for the day. It was eight in the morning.

"I'm not interested in Lottie," I told her honestly. "She's cute, but she's still in high school. She's quiet, too. Hard to get to know. They're going home soon anyway."

She made a noise of acknowledgment, but that was it. I bit into a leftover cinnamon roll, my mind processing the fact that the Ford's were only here another two days. Sarah cleaned up her dishes, but before she left, she paused, placing her hands on the back of my shoulders. Leaning in towards my ear, she whispered something to me.

"That wasn't the Ford I was talking about."