The Friends List Ch. 02

All characters in this story are 18+. It is set in the summer of 2010. Thanks to Ravenna933 for her edits and RawSilhouette for help with developing the plot.

I woke up Sunday morning to a house full of people. All four of us were there for the first time in over eight months. Mom and Walt had gotten in late, and from the looks of things, they hadn't noticed the raucous party my stepsister Vanessa had thrown. We'd done a good job cleaning up the place the day before, and then spent the rest of the day apart, locked in our rooms.

I'd looked forward to seeing Mom again, and she was clearly just as happy to see me. She made me a lovely brunch of Eggs Benedict from scratch -- one of her specialties -- as I told her all about the last semester. I hadn't been able to come home during Reading Week as I was too behind on my coursework, so this was the first time we'd seen each other in person since Christmas.

Mom and I had always been close, dating back to the many years where all we'd had was each other, and I really cherished the adult relationship we now had. Mom had always treated me with respect and been up front and honest, even in childhood, and I had never felt like she'd lied or kept things from me. Growing up with that openness made me naturally honest and frank in return, and compared with most of my friends, I enjoyed never feeling like I had to sneak around or lie to her.

One of the adjustments I'd had to make in moving into a blended family household was Walt's relative conservatism with his daughter -- he'd kept Vanessa a little more locked down. Mom made excuses for him -- 'girls are different', she'd said -- but it had taken some getting used to having a parent that was more restrictive than Mom's permissive nature midway through my teens. Walt and I had clashed a little, but I'd rewarded Mom's lax attitude towards discipline by becoming a sensible, responsible adult -- her words, not mine -- so it never really got too difficult between us.

Whereas from the looks of it, Vanessa's teen rebellion years, late in coming, might have finally started this past year while I was away. But I didn't share any of these thoughts with Mom over brunch. I wasn't a tattletale, and Vanessa's relationship with her Dad wasn't any of my business.

The next few weeks passed quickly. I got my grades back from the year, and found to my pleasure that my solid B+/A- average was maintained. With studying for the LSATs ahead of me, I decided against seeking out a summer job -- I had savings to fund occasional extravagances, and I wanted to focus my spare time entirely on my upcoming exam.

Monique's words about other (girl? girls?) she knew having a crush on me were never far from my mind, but I didn't want to go barrelling in and trying to score with someone when I had no real reason to infiltrate my stepsister's friends, and I wanted to give Laura's tall tales and Monique's reassurances time to percolate. I was fine with playing it cool to start the summer and wait to see what opportunities came up.

In mid-May, Vanessa knocked on the door to my room.

"Come in."

She entered. "I hear you slept with Laura."

I nodded.

"Why?"

"She wanted to."

"I know she wanted to. She's wanted to for years. But why did you do it?" Vanessa's look was inquisitive, not angry, and I relaxed a little.

"I don't know. I always fought her off because she was too young and too immature. She's neither of those things now."

Vanessa considered this. "And it was a one night stand?"

I nodded again.

"You're not going to fuck her again?"

"Not planning to."

Vanessa sat down at the end of my bed. "I'm not upset."

"I can tell," I interrupted, "and I'm glad you're not."

"But I'm worried about her. If this had been an unrequited crush forever, well, we've all had them. But getting what you want only once... it's going to be hard on her to let it go."

"For what it's worth, I feel like a bit of an asshole about it in retrospect. But I didn't realize quite how deep her feelings ran for me. I thought it was just teenage lust. If I'd known just how deep her feelings for me were, I wouldn't have done it."

Vanessa's face softened further. "I'm glad to hear you say that. If you'd been playing on the emotions of one of my friends and using her for sex I'd have been way more upset."

"If anything, she was using me," I pointed out.

She laughed, but the laugh was strained. "Yeah, I can imagine she was." I wondered if there was any history there I didn't know about, but I knew better than to ask. We sat in silence for a few moments.

"Is she okay?" I asked.

Vanessa nodded. "It's hard to tell, because she's barely said a word about how she's feeling about it. She's bragged about you a lot, to the point I had to tell her to stop telling me about it. I don't need to hear that stuff about my stepbrother."

I grinned smugly. Vanessa ignored me.

"But her actual feelings? If she's in pain or upset, she hasn't let on."

"Keep me posted," I said. "I don't know if there's anything much I can do for her, but I'd at least like to know I haven't caused her any pain."

"That's nice of you."

Vanessa sat for a moment, still thinking.

"I still really don't feel like we know each other that well, but both Laura and Monique have said some really wonderful things about you recently," she began again.

"That's kind of them."

"Monique told me that she and you are becoming friends," she continued.

"I'd agree with that. I really like her."

Vanessa nodded. "You can thank her for this, because it's her idea. We're going out tonight for karaoke and she wants you to come with, but only if I was cool with it. And I'm cool with it. It's a group thing; there will be other guys there. Just... you know, be gentle with Laura and don't fuck her again."

"Cross my heart and hope to die," I promised.

"Cool." She smiled, one of the first genuine smiles I could remember her ever giving me, and my heart melted a little. "We're meeting at the karaoke bar at 9. I'll let you know when I'm ready to leave."

I messaged Monique as soon as Vanessa left the room.

Thanks for laying ground work for me, I texted. Tonight sounds like fun.

You're welcome. How has Laura been treating you?

Quiet, I answered. Surprisingly.

She hasn't forgotten about you.

Great. How's it been going?

Well, at a minimum, the whole group knows how you rocked her world, Monique wrote, following it up with several raindrop emoji.

Vanessa and I just talked. I'm surprised she was so okay with it.

Well, she's not thrilled you had a one-night stand with one of her friends, but she also knows just how deep of a crush Laura had on you, so I think she was able to accept it wasn't entirely your fault. It wasn't news to her that Laura was in love with you. When we were younger she was always asking about you, wanting to see photos, you know. It was obvious.

I gritted my teeth.

But she'll get over it. Hopefully it won't be weird tonight.

Is this a couples thing? I asked. I don't want to be a fifth wheel, or be stuck with Laura all night.

You might be an eleventh wheel, but no, you'll be fine. You can come as my date if you want to.

What about Claire? I asked, remembering the name Monique had dropped at the party.

Nah, that was just a friend with benefits thing. Turns out we weren't really even friends. It was just benefits. But when you can't stand being around each other, the drawbacks start to outweigh even regular sex. I liked fucking her and hated just about everything else about her.

I laughed to myself. Sounds like fun.

That night at dinner, Walt waited for everyone to dig in before speaking up.

"I have an announcement," he began.

I looked up in surprise. This wasn't his usual style.

"Go ahead, dear," Mom urged.

"My lovely daughter is nineteen now, which means she's an adult in the eyes of the law. It's been hard for me at times, watching my little girl turn into a grown woman, but I'm proud of who you've become, sweetheart."

Vanessa smiled. "Thanks, Dad."

"Both my daughter and my wife have been lobbying me to loosen the apron strings a little, and I've realized that the reason I've been keeping such a close watch on you is because I'm not ready for you to be nineteen. It's not because you're not ready to be. You are, and for that, I apologize.

"Because you are now legal to vote, to drink, to live on your own, Diane and I wanted to tell both of you that the house rules are changing. Effective immediately, you both are welcome to drink alcohol in this house. I would rather you both never smoke, but if you do, you don't have to hide it, just don't do it indoors. And because you're both single right now, it's as good a time as any to tell you that I..." He gulped. "You are welcome to have a boyfriend or girlfriend spend the night here if you want to."

"We don't want you both feeling like you have to run around behind our backs," Mom continued. "All we ask is that you be responsible and considerate. If you get drunk, just keep the noise down after hours. And we don't want to see any evidence of your romantic lives any more than you want to see evidence of ours."

"We know that you're both responsible young adults now, so it's time I learned to start treating you that way," Walt concluded. "I know neither of you are the type to throw a raging house party."

I glanced over at Vanessa, who was unable to meet my gaze.

"Thanks," I finally broke the silence.

"Yeah, thank you," Vanessa added hurriedly.

"One question," I continued.

"Sure."

"What about one-night stands? Can we bring them home?"

Mom burst out laughing as Walt glared at me.

"Sure," Mom finally said. "If you can convince some self-respecting young lady to come spend the night at your parents' house, be my guest."

"I'm not into self-respecting women, to be honest," I said, winking.

Mom laughed again. "That's my boy."

"That's your boy," Walt grumbled. "I know you're joking. You'd better be joking."

I nodded. I was. Kind of.

"Now, for the first time ever in this house, would either of you like to share a glass of wine with your parents?" Walt pulled out a bottle of red from under the table.

"Yes, please!" Vanessa broke out into a huge smile.

A couple hours later, I'd gotten dressed up to go out, and Vanessa and I left together, on foot, to head downtown. Our neighbourhood was an older one northwest of downtown, and it was a twenty minute walk to the karaoke bar. Vanessa was wearing a light jacket over clothes I recognized as freshman bar wear; a low cut top and a short skirt, and with the slight nip in the air her nipples were making themselves visible.

"You sure you don't want to wear something warmer?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Bars get warm, I'll be fine once we're there."

We walked a little farther.

"That was unexpected," I offered.

"I know, right?" Vanessa agreed. "Dad's always been so conservative with me. I wonder what finally changed his mind."

"Either Mom's influence, or he finally noticed you're an adult," I guessed.

"Or both."

"You are so much different than I remembered," I continued. "Last time I saw you, you were still a kid."

Vanessa nodded. "Yeah. I definitely feel like I've grown up a lot in the last year."

I waited to see if there was more.

"I wanted to say, Peter, because I don't think I did. Thank you for not ratting me out about the party."

"You're welcome. I would have if you'd left me the mess, or been more of a bitch to me if I'm being honest. But for doing something stupid and irresponsible, you handled it well."

"Thanks, I think," she replied. "I don't think I'm ever going to do that again."

"Good. Why?"

"I didn't enjoy it." She kept walking for a minute. "I love house parties. I've been to a bunch of them this year. I love the craziness, the noise, the atmosphere. But when it's your own house, I was full of anxiety about things getting broken or stolen until I was drunk enough not to think about it, but that's not fun drunk anymore."

"I'm glad to hear that. We can have fun without risking burning the house down."

"I like that you said 'we'. It's nice you're not ignoring me anymore." She made eye contact briefly.

"Yeah..." I didn't know what to say. I'd never thought of it like that before, but she was right; I had kept her and her friends distant through my teen years. "I'm discovering you and your friends are different since getting home. You've got a good group of people around you. Thanks for letting me tag along tonight."

"Most of your friends are in Kingston this summer, right?"

I nodded. "My roommates Steve, Tom and Clarence all got jobs there, and Clarence is taking a summer course."

"Clarence?" Vanessa interrupted. "You're roommates with a World War II veteran?"

"Knock it off. He's a good guy. Named for his grandfather, of course, but I can assure you he's 21."

"I'm teasing."

"But yeah, I don't have a huge number of friends left in Guelph. My high school group has kind of scattered throughout the country. I still talk to a few of my old friends, but we're not close like we used to be. I'm sure I'll see some of the old gang this summer, but my real friends are all back in Kingston."

"I wonder if that'll happen to my group," Vanessa mused. "Michelle and Sam were still here, which is part of it, I'm sure, but as soon as the others got back, all we wanted was to see each other."

"You're lucky. I never found that kind of close friendships with people until university."

"I haven't made any ultra-close friends in university. We're opposites."

"Living at home probably has a lot to do with that," I pointed out. "I made all my friends in rez."

"Living off-campus is hard," she agreed. "People don't make their friends in class anymore like in high school. I didn't expect university to be so lonely."

I wanted to ask her more, but just then, we hit the karaoke bar. The gang was seated around a pair of tables, one with Michelle and her boyfriend, a white guy and a Desi girl I didn't recognize, and the guy who slept with Vanessa at the house party. The second table had Monique, Samantha and Kirsten. Vanessa quickly made a beeline for the guy -- Carson? - hugging him and then taking her jacket off, filling the six-top table. I took my jacket off and sat in a free seat beside Kirsten.

"Welcome to the kids' table," Monique joked.

"Thanks! Thanks for inviting me."

Sam and Kirsten both said their hellos. The noise in the bar was too loud to do much talking, and it was about half-full, not jammed to the rafters, but with enough people there that there was a steady stream of people getting up to sing. I got up to go to the bar to order, and Monique came with me. The noise was lower standing at the bar.

"Are Laura and Natalie coming?" I asked.

"Laura is later," she answered. "She has to work late tonight. Natalie's doing an intersession course at University of Ottawa. She won't be back in town until mid-June."

I considered this. "Does that mean I should wait until mid-June to figure out who might or might not have a crush on me?"

Monique giggled. "Why wait?"

I locked eyes on her.

"I already told you that I'm not breaking the girl code, Peter. But your chances of success with the girls in this bar tonight aren't zero."

"Interesting." I had been sure it was Natalie. Maybe it still is? Who else?

"Don't overthink it, dumbass," Monique ordered, clearly noticing the wheels turning in my head. "Relax. Have fun. Sing something. Who knows what'll happen?"

"You're the best."

"I know." She smiled at me. "How's your singing voice?"

"Not bad. I've been in bands before."

"So I've heard. Doesn't mean you sang."

"I'm not a lead singer. I can handle low harmony, but I'm a bass-baritone, and most lead parts in pop music are for tenors. Give me something low enough and I can make it sound decent."

"Low like what?" she asked.

"Johnny Cash is a good go-to, David Bowie. I can transpose music down into my register, but people notice it doesn't sound like they're expecting."

"Well, I have high hopes. I can't sing for shit."

"But you're going to, right?" I prodded.

"Of course. It's just going to sound awful."

"I'm sure you're not that bad."

"Don't say that until you've heard me." She shot me a knowing look.

We headed back to the group, where the noise made conversation impossible, and put in our tickets for our first round of songs. After some time, we started getting called up, one-by-one. The other table went first, and last to go on their group was the guy I didn't know -- Mark, apparently -- who sang a passable version of "Heroes" by David Bowie. I was next, and I'd been planning to do "Space Oddity," but I quickly changed my plans. I gave my new selection to the girl running the show.

"Okay, so I was going to do 'Space Oddity', but Mark just stole my Bowie thunder here, so I'm going to do a song inspired by it. This is 'Major Tom', by Peter Schilling, from 1983."

The familiar synth intro started to raucous cheers from Vanessa's friends and indifference from everyone else. Walt had got me into the song -- he'd been a big New Waver in his youth, and it was basically a New Wave sequel to Bowie's original. The soaring chorus was at the upper limits of my range, but I gave it my all and thought it sounded reasonable enough. The crowd cheered as I finished and Samantha headed to the stage.

As soon as I sat down, the blonde next to me leaned in and shouted in my ear.

"How do you know that song?" Kirsten asked. Her voice had just a slight German accent.

"My stepdad. He was big into New Wave and played in a bunch of bands back in the 80's. It was a big hit in Canada."

"It was a big hit in Germany, too. You know Peter Schilling is German?"

I nodded.

"The original version of the song is called 'Völlig Losgelöst', which means 'Completely Detached'," she explained. "The German lyrics are better, I think. The chorus goes, 'completely detached from the Earth, the spacecraft floats, completely weightless.' Nothing to do with coming home." She smiled.

"You should do a German song, too," I suggested.

"Good idea! I will!"

We watched Sam finish singing a Britney Spears song, then Kirsten's name was called and she headed for the stage, giving instructions to the karaoke attendant.

"This is another German song!" she called out from the stage, grasping the microphone stand confidently and staring defiantly out at the crowd. Damn, that girl has stage presence, I thought. People at the bar had taken notice of her, and she hadn't even begun yet.

Just then, another New Wave synth chord started, and Kirsten began. It was Nena's '99 Red Balloons," but even though the monitor was prompting her in English, Kirsten was effortlessly singing the words from memory in German. And her voice, my goodness. Kirsten's mezzo-soprano was rich, her pitch was perfect. She was every bit a professional, and as her fair skin broke into a sweat as she strutted around the stage... maybe it was the lights reflecting in her glittery eye makeup, but damn, she was pretty. Following the long parade of amateurs, the entire bar had noticed the professional suddenly prancing around on the tiny stage, watching in rapt attention, even though she was singing a song in another language.

Kirsten got the biggest round of applause of the night as she finished, and curtsied gracefully before coming back to the table and taking a big swig of beer.

"I'm so impressed!" I yelled.

"First time hearing her sing?" Samantha asked.

I nodded.

"She's so talented!"

"Oh, stop." Kirsten blushed.