Radium Halos by W.J. May

to get my hearing to focus less. I sent Seth a
text and offered to pick him, silly to drive two cars when I went
right by his place.
    I pulled in
Seth’s driveway and killed the ignition. Slamming the Volkswagen’s
door, I grimaced at the rusty creaking of its hinges. As I turned
to walk up the drive,
    a motorbike
parked near the house made me pause. Whose is that? Seth’s
dad definitely didn’t ride, but it wouldn’t surprise me if his mom
had taken up a new hobby. I grinned. She struck me as one tough
woman. If I ever had kids, I hoped to be just like her.
    Seth stepped
out of the two-storey house and onto the covered porch. “Hey!” he
hollered, or so it seemed to me. Resting his hands on the railing
he leaned over.
    “Your mom buy a
bike?” I asked, stopping at the bottom of the stairs.
    A deep laugh
erupted behind him. I tried to catch a glimpse of whoever sat on
the cedar chair. It was impossible to see because of the brick
pillar and Seth’s big muscle body. The laugh made my stomach twist
and flip. It echoed against my head making my body tingle and warm. Weird.
    “Yer mum would
ride a bike?” Kieran laughed again. He appeared at the top of the
steps wearing a white tee shirt and a pair of shorts with a
Scottish logo near the bottom. He stood two steps above me so the
Rangers Football Club emblem hit me eye level.
    “Probably,”
Seth scoffed, “after she sees yours. Wanna know where she is
today?” He rolled his eyes at me. “Bungee jumping! What forty-five
year old woman does that?” He tried to sound embarrassed but the
right side of his mouth turned up and he pretended to stare off at
nothing to show indifference.
    I knew him too
well, he loved him mom and her sense of adventure. “What’d your dad
say?”
    “He’s video
taping it!”
    As Seth rambled
on and walked past us towards the car, Kieran winked at me.
    I smiled back. He totally gets it.
    “My car’s a bit
of an antique.” I pointed to the Bug, like I should apologize for
her. The yellow paint and rust blended in so well together now, you
couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began. It looked like a
tree in Autumn, and I still loved it.
    “Yer parents
buy it fer you?” He strolled beside me, his knuckles brushed
against my hand as our arms swung with walking.
    “Nope.”
Momentarily distracted by his touch, I stuttered, “I-I bought it
with money saved from a paper route I’d had since I was, like, ten.
After passing my driver’s license, my dad took me to this old farm
out of the city and I paid cash for her.” I patted the hood, unable
to hide the pride in my voice and or to stop myself from babbling.
“I know it’s kinda old.”
    “It’s
eclectic,” he said.
    My heart
swelled. Cute and a sense of humour. I realized I was
staring when Kieran’s heart shifted it’s rhythm. “So…anything going
on with you? You know…with the sensation-thing?”
    He shook his
head. “Nothing, but it’s okay. I’m here ta watch, and cheer you on.
I’m yer biggest fan.” He rubbed his shoulder against mine. “I’ll be
your guys’ groupie.”
    “You comin’ or
what?” Seth stood behind the open passenger door, one leg already
inside the car. “I call shotgun.”
    Kieran crawled
into the back behind the driver’s seat. I hopped in and started the
engine. I shoved the stick shift into reverse and popped the
clutch. Our eyes met in the review mirror as I backed out the
driveway. He was smoking-hot. I loved his slightly messy dark hair
that my fingers begged to let me run themselves through it. Thin
and soft, but any girl knew there had to be power behind them.
    I made a mental
effort to focus back on the road, wondering if Kieran or Seth could
hear my thoughts. They seemed to shout so blatantly inside my mind.
Crap, I probably had a neon sign above my head: “I’m hot for the
Scot.”
    “Brent’s place
is perfect,” Seth said, interrupting my thoughts. He threw his arm
over my seat and turned back to look at