Читать книгу Circle - Elina Wainwright - Страница 13

«Hi, everyone!» I walked into the living room, where all the guys were already gathered.

«Hey they said together.

«What’s on the line today?» I took off my jacket and put it on the couch.

«We’re going to play poker. Did you bring the box with the game set?» Henry walked past me, turning to Dan.

«Yeah,» he put the packets on the table. «Sort out the drinks and snacks,» and pulled the poker box from his backpack.

«I’m Caleb,» Dan and I were approached by a six-foot tall guy with dark hair and blue eyes.

And he’s handsome…

«Nice to meet you,» I said.

«Welcome to our ranks, colleague, Daniel shook his hand.

I sat down next to Di.

«Are you going to play, too?» I asked her.

«I don’t know anything about it. I’ll just watch. What about you?» she took a sip of beer.

«Me, too.»

In fact, I really wanted to learn how to play poker, but I thought I was too stupid to play it, so I didn’t even dare to start.

The guys handed out chips and started saying some words Di and I didn’t understand. Flush, straight, four of a kind. Personally, for me, four of a kind is four kinds of something, and the Flush is a comic book hero.

I turned my attention to Di. She kept her eyes on Caleb. I’m sure she was attracted to him. She probably did. Caleb really was very attractive on the surface. But not in character. In the hour that we sat together in the same room, I caught myself thinking that he was rude. And his jokes were weird. He was accusing the guys of handing out the wrong cards on purpose, and that’s why he was unlucky. For a bad dancer and the floor is a nuance…

I began to notice that his presence was starting to stress the guys out. The guys were visibly tense, Chris was relaxed from the alcohol, and Di continued to stare mesmerized at Caleb. Or so it seemed to me.

«Shall we have a smoke?» Richard suggested to lighten the mood.

«Yes, let’s,» Chris stood up, almost dropping her glass.

«I’ll come out with you, too,» Dan stretched out, «because this beer really blew my mind.» He stood up, staggering.

«God, don’t drink too much,» Andrew grinned. «I have to carry you home on my back.

«Why aren’t you drunk?» Dan wondered.

«Because I know how to drink,» answered Andrew and turned his friend towards the door.

«I’m going out on the balcony to breathe with you, too,» Di retorted and got up from the table.

And that’s how I was left in the room all alone. I got on my phone, opened Instagram, and started looking at my friends’ stories. Gaby was going somewhere in the car again, Camellia took a picture of her view from the window, and Dana posted a picture of her dog.

«Do you miss it?»

I looked up and saw Henry above me.

«No,» I put the phone away.

«You look bored,» – he cracked.

«I just saw your face again,» – I smiled fake.

He grinned back at me:

«Point scored.»

I looked around the room.

«Do you want some pizza?» – he nodded toward the second table, where the cherished box was.

«No.»

«Why not?»

«I don’t eat cheese or sausage. I’m a vegan,» I explained calmly.

«Got it. You eat sunshine and drink only water.»

«Ha-ha. That’s a good joke. Should I give you a few more minutes to come up with a better joke?» I didn’t stand for it.

«Hey!» he raised his hands. «Why the sudden reaction?» he wondered.

«I’ve been vegan for two years now. Do you really think I’m not tired of this kind of joke?» I raised my left eyebrow.

«Okay, I’m sorry. I hear you. And why did you become one?» He looked interested.

«Peculiarities of the body. I can’t digest products of animal origin,» I explained.

«Do you feel sorry for the animals?»

«Not without that.»

«Do you want to see a trick?» He took a deck of cards in his hand..

«Can you?» And this is what interested me.

«Yeah. The guys won’t be here anytime soon anyway,» he began to stir the cards in his hands.

«What’s the matter?» I was embarrassed.

«Andrew is holding Daniel so he doesn’t accidentally jump off the balcony, Caleb and Di are chatting about something, and Richard and Chris are even out of the apartment.»

I wonder if those two made up. Okay, that’s none of my business. I’m not going to ask Henry that.

«Now I’m going to shuffle the deck, you’re going to memorize one of the cards, and I’m going to try to guess it. Are you ready?»

«Surprise me,» I smiled, and moved closer to get a better look at the cards.

He began to shuffle the deck, and I remembered one of the cards: the eight of hearts.

He pulled out the card in front of me, smiled big and asked:

«Did I surprise you?»

«You guessed, but you didn’t surprise me,» I answered.

Why’s that?» he was embarrassed.

«When you were shuffling the deck, you kept the eight of hearts in front of me on purpose, so that my brain would remember it best and choose it.»

«How?..»

«I’ve seen White Collar. There’s a lot of tricks on that show.»

«So you can’t be fooled?» he smiled.

«You can try your luck.»

There was a clawing sound in the room, and we turned around.

«Oh, there’s Humanoid,» Henry turned around and picked up his raccoon.

I reached up to pet the unusual pet..

«Don’t!» Henry pulled away from me with the raccoon.

«Why?» I wondered.

«He bites.» I don’t want you to get hurt.

«Don’t worry,» I reached for Humanoid again. «I’m a witch,» I scratched the raccoon behind the ear, and it purred, «animals love us.

«I don’t believe that.» Henry answered skeptically.

«Oh, honey,» I looked him in the eye, «the time will come when you’ll believe that I’m a witch.»

***

«I LOVE YOU ALL!» shouted Daniel while Andrew tried to put his jacket on him.

«And we love you,» I answered him. «Just don’t shout, please.»

«Come here,» Dan pulled me to him and hugged me. «You’re a real sunshine.»

I ran my eyes over and saw Andrew’s condescending stare. He was clearly amused by the situation.

«It’s cold outside. Let me put your jacket on you,» Andrew tried to shove the guy’s hand into the jacket.

«Get away from me. I’m as hot as the southern sun myself.»

«Raise his hand,» Andrew told me.

I obeyed.

With a bit of a struggle, we managed to get the guy dressed.

«Pizza!» Dan shouted. «Get the pizza!»

«There you go,» Henry handed me the box, «or he’s going to wake up all the neighbours.»

«Thank you,» I nodded.

«See you at work tomorrow?» he asked me.

«Okay,» I answered. I have to record the soundtrack versions for an ad campaign tomorrow.

«I want pizza!» Dan’s voice rang out again.

«Quiet, you!» Di, who had also had too much to drink, shushed him. It seemed to me that only I, Andrew, and Henry were sane.

«Goodbye, everybody!» Andrew said and dragged Dan out of the apartment.

I sat down to tie my sneakers. Just as I stood up to pick up the pizza box, Henry hugged me.

«Bye,» he said.

I’d forgotten how tactile they all are.

«See you later!» I smiled sincerely and left the apartment.

«Did you get the pizza?!» Dan piled on top of me.

«I did,» I rolled my eyes.

«Andrew,» the guy turned to his friend, «I love you.»

«We love you, too, Dan. Please don’t yell,» he exhaled.

Daniel turned to me:

«And I love you, too.»

«I love you, too, with all my heart,» I decided to support his delirium.

«Will you come with us?» Dan asked me with childish naivety.

I looked at Andrew.

«I can’t carry him and the pizza by myself,» the guy looked at me pleadingly.

«Yes, I’m coming with you,» I decided to help the guys.

«Will you sleep with us, too?» Dan winked.

«No,» I said, which upset the boy considerably. «With only you one,» I whispered playfully to amuse myself.

«Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa!» The guy started yelling at the whole street. «I like it!»

«Don’t yell, man!» Andrew cursed.

«I want to dance!» Daniel said, broke free from Andrew’s grasp and ran forward.

Andrew and I just looked after him.

«Do you think,» I turned to a fellow sufferer, – he will fall?

«A hundred percent,» Andrew stretched out.

Not three minutes later, Dan tripped over the curb and fell into the bushes. Andrew and I tried to help the guy, while holding back laughter. On the way, Daniel started singing the American anthem and fell again. Andrew took a piece of pizza out of the box and started chewing on it. All in all, the fun of this evening began on this very street, and I began to laugh heartily at all the stuff.

That night I had no idea how much I would be hurt by almost everyone who was in that apartment. It was that night that I made my biggest mistake, because when I came home, I sincerely believed that they were the good guys. I always analysed every situation and every person I encountered. I evaluated all the pros and cons and drew conclusions. And that day I made a conclusion that I would start to get close to the guys, because they were generally harmless and wouldn’t behave nastily to me. We were just a bunch of young guys and girls who had come to this town to find ourselves. It was with that thought in mind that I fell asleep that night. And also with the thought of the way Henry had hugged me.

«Lindsay, it’s just a friendly hug,» I told myself. Then why can’t I sleep again?