Free Lasting Damage by Isabelle Aren Page A

called you.” She replied before
killing the conversation
     
    *****
     
    By the time Jane calmed down enough to leave her room Lily was putting
the finishing touches on a freshly rolled joint, pinching it between her thumb and
forefinger, and tightening the ends to fine points. She gave it a final
inspection before holding it up to Alice for her nod of approval.
    On
any other day she might find the unspoken exchange heartwarming but not today.
Today had turned bitter and nasty, and as much as she wanted to forget the
whole thing ever happened, she knew letting it go was going to be difficult.
    “Alice?”
She asked as she plopped down on the couch.
    “Yes?”
    Jane
took a breath and asked one of the questions she didn’t like having to ask. “What
do you do when you think someone wants to be near you because of Mom or Dad?”
    Alice
tilted her head and stared into space for a second before shrugging her
shoulders. “I pretend everyone likes me, and get on with my life.”
    Jane
ran a hand over the ragged edge of her shorts and decided that particular line
of questioning needed to wait until Chloe got home since she was the one who
spend the most time trying to avoid star-fuckers. “Does Tin Bird mean anything
to you?”
    “Of
course.” Alice nodded.  “They did the opening song for that freaky movie Dad
did the score for last summer. He’s used them a few times.”
    “Is
it a ‘they’ or a ‘she’?” Jane asked.
    “A
‘she’ when she’s doing remixes for other artists and a “they” when she’s
performing with her band.” Alice told her. “They do awesome electronic house
music, but the good dream pop stuff and not that sped up bullshit. It’s not
like Scooter or anything”
    “That’s
who was in the studio,” said Jane. “I saw her when I was getting your phone.”
    “You’re
kidding.” Alice let out a high pitched squeal as she picked up her bag setting
it down in her lap. “You should’ve come out to get me so I could meet her. Dad
says she’s a hot shit.”
     “Tin
Bird’s real name is Harper Merrick.” Jane stared at Lily whose eyes went wide
with realization.
    “You
are fucking kidding me.” Lily gasped.
    “No,”
Jane answered. “I’m not.”
    Alice
watched the two of them as they exchanged looks across the coffee table before
asking, “Why do I get the feeling I’m missing something?”
    “Because
you are,” Lily put the joint to her lips and lit the far end, inhaling until it
glowed dark orange. “Jane and Harper had a date this afternoon. It was very
long brunch date.”
    “You’re
shitting me?” Alice leaned forward, her eyes brightening with the news. “You’re
shitting me, right?”
    “I
do not shit about these kinds of things,” Lily announced as she passed the
joint across the table to Alice. “This girl’s totally into her.”
    “She’s
a liar.” Jane announced. “She never told me about working with Riley.”
    “Weren’t
you the one who coined the phrase ‘creative truth telling’?” Lily reminded her
with a sideways glance as Alice handed the joint to Jane.
    “That’s
different,” she replied before taking a hit.
    “How
is your lying different than her lying?” Alice asked.
    “I
have to go see Sammi tomorrow.” She exhaled the smoke from her strained lungs
before they started to ache. “Either one of you want to come with me?”
    “Oh!”
Alice raised her hand and started waving it around like a maniacal marionette. “Me!
I wanna go see Sammi!”
    “How
about you, chief?” Jane handed the joint back to Lily.
    “I’ve
got to so see my mom tomorrow but I appreciate your attempt to distract me.”
Lily nodded. “It was a good defensive maneuver on your part.”
    “I
wasn’t trying to distract you,”
    “And
there you go,” Lily coughed. “You open your mouth and out comes another lie.”
    “Can
you stop being a twatwaffle for one second?” Jane pressed her fingers to her
temples and counted the beating of her pulse as it