Chapter 1

Vincent Carter carefully placed his guitar case on the bed he'd be using for the next few months and sat heavily on it. The drive from Traxton to Harlowe had been six, long, exhausting hours.

The heat most certainly didn’t help. While it was cool in the apartment, their constant trips to his car had been brutal. The blazing sun was setting, but that didn’t stop the intense humidity and heat from baking small town Harlowe. It was the end of June and temperatures were nearing the hundreds. Cruel summers were a commonality in St. Nicholas, but this year’s temperatures were breaking all kinds of records.

"Did you just bring your whole life or what?" his best friend, Seth Alexandre, asked as he placed Vincent's last piece of luggage up against the wall.

Vincent would be living with Seth for a while until he got his own place. Even though Vincent's parents were willing to have him back home until he was able to get on his own feet, he didn’t want to go back home. Seth understood why a 22 year old wouldn't want to go back home any time soon and since he had an extra guestroom, he didn’t mind having his best bud move in for a month or two.

"Would make sense. I don’t know how long I’m going to be here,” Vincent said with a tired sigh, running his fingers over his buzz cut hair. While carrying nearly all his belongings made sense to him, it didn’t to Seth.

Seth was extremely simple and could count on one hand how much he needed when traveling. Vincent on the other hand was normally undecided and often wondered ‘what if’, so he liked to carry all possible options around with him.

Seth almost always knew what he wanted. Vincent didn't.

“But thanks man. I really appreciate this,” Vincent said somberly.

"No problem. Anything to help."

Vincent tried not to be bothered by Seth's words, as innocent as they were. The last thing he needed was a reminder that he needed help. Down in Traxton, he had a hard time his senior year trying to get an internship for his architecture major but Seth helped him snag one in Harlowe.

Traxton was south of Harlowe. It ran along the beach and was home to one of St. Nicholas' two biggest football teams. It was one of St. Nicholas' thriving cities, right behind Harlowe, although both still managed to maintain small-town qualities. St. Nicholas as a whole was not known for being over the top.

St. Nicholas was a southern state situated in between Mississippi and Arkansas. It was conservative in many ways, although was steadily changing the more people from other regions moved with more job creation. Like many other states, St. Nicholas was also part of the ‘bible belt’, with Christianity reigning. Nonetheless, with more diversity slowly trickling into the state, it started to change as many other religious sects began to flourish.

“Well, you need to get ready," Seth said as he headed out the room while taking his shirt off, getting ready to take a shower. "Peggy and them are throwing you a surprise party,” he added. This was not the first time Seth ruined a surprise for Vincent--not because he was forgetful--he just liked to mess with him and others like that. It was now a rule among their group never to let Seth know when a surprise was being held for someone.

Twenty minutes later, Seth changed from his sweaty gym clothes into a white v-neck t-shirt and jeans with his brown boots. He was usually ready before Vincent, he was surprised to find him still slumped in the bed, texting with a frustrated expression.

“Dude are you coming or what?” he asked exasperatedly.

Vincent looked up distractedly. “What? Uh…no, it’s okay.” He frowned at his phone. “Today was rough. I think I’ll stay in.”

“Did I forget to mention the part where they are throwing a party for you?” Seth asked.

“I’m really tired.” Vincent rubbed his forehead. The troubled expression he was giving his phone was making Seth wonder what was really up with him.

“…Or you’ve just been acting weird as fuck lately," Seth said bluntly as he stepped into the room. Leaning his upper back against the wall, Seth folded his arms and stared at his friend knowingly.

Vincent sighed, knowing that this was going to be a long night.

They’d literally known each other since birth. They both knew each other like the back of each other’s hands. It was hard for Vincent to keep anything from Seth, no matter how hard he tried.

Not only that, but Vincent could never get away with anything when it came to Seth. If there was someone who didn't know what it was to filter their mouth, it was Seth Alexandre. He didn't care who you were or where you came from. He was going to call you out on your bullshit in broad daylight not caring who saw. Vincent on the other hand usually just watched and tried to stay out of other people’s business.

They were polar opposites. Seth was nicknamed Day, because he walked around loud and proud not caring who saw. Vincent was nicknamed Night, because he preferred to be muted in the background going unnoticed unless, and only unless it came to performing.

The Night and Day moniker stretched as far as describing their looks.

Many people told Vincent that he should model, often fawning over his dark features and tanned skin due to his Atlanto Mediterranean heritage. His diamond shaped face with high cheek bones was the envy of many for its perfect symmetry. His dark brown eyes were very mysterious, often hiding a lot of what he thought or felt, and it was this mystique that kept women yearning to know more and more of him. His full lips usually formed a straight line for Vincent normally didn’t say much, and the rare times that he did smile he sent women dying with his perfectly straight teeth. He was a looker. His dark hair was also often the marvel of many, but he'd cut it short after having it one way for so long in his life.

Seth's hair was dark gold and almost always untamed, with women always yearning to run their fingers through it. His sea-green eyes always alight with mischief, sat under thick, arched eyebrows that added to his devilish charm. But it was Seth's smile, cocky, wide, and unapologetic, that stole many hearts and persuaded many nonbelievers. His skin was slightly tanned due to his constant outdoor activities, and those activities and his penchant for sports gave him muscles that had many both drooling and envious.

It was well known how Vincent's expression normally appeared standoffish but apparently he was called one of the nicest guys in town. He was a true gentleman that did everything by the book but still knew when to have fun. Seth could be described as the cliché life of the party.

Vincent was the quieter of the two, and he normally withheld his opinion especially if it would hurt someone's feelings, often times telling people what they wanted to hear. He also opted to linger in the shadows in huge crowds. While Seth didn't mind the limelight, he didn't care for it either. He could be crass with no ill-will intended, loud without apologizing for it, and outspoken within the limits of good manners.

Vincent was meticulous when it came to decision making, groveling over what he should or shouldn't do for long periods of time. He lived by the quote, 'better safe than sorry'. Seth almost always went with his gut instincts and usually had no regrets unless someone else got hurt by his actions. Otherwise, he lived by the saying 'you only live once'.

Vincent was a home body while Seth was an outdoor man. He was always ready to see new worlds and didn't care who saw him. Vincent cared what people thought. Seth didn't. Vincent dated one girl at a time while Seth slept around 'selectively', but safely. Dating was a waste of time in his opinion, at least at this point of his life.

In high school, Seth had been on the football and basketball team while Vincent played baseball in middle school and only halfway through high school because he became more serious about the rock band he started with some friends.

As different as they were, their differences helped them balance each other out. Seth's gumption for blurting truths without tact could sometimes make him a jackass and Vincent always had to remind him that there was a way to say things, even as much as the truth hurt. Vincent's knack for trying not to hurt people's feelings forced Seth to remind him that leading people on could hurt them in the long run.

They'd been friends for as long as they could remember, having been born only a few days apart in the hospital. In high school, Seth pleaded with his parents to let him go to public school instead of private. They only agreed because Granicks High was located in the good side of town and normally ranked high among other southern high schools.

While they strayed apart in high school because of falling into different social groups, they never truly drifted apart. They both worked at the same burger joint one summer and saw each other every Sunday and Thursday anyway because their families were big on church. They hang out less when they both went to different colleges but the bond was still strong as ever. At least that's what it seemed like although over the past year or so, Vincent would sometimes sneak in that he felt Seth’s life was easier than his. While he wasn't the only one, Seth was a little bit bothered that his best friend who often defended him over people's proclamations that his life was perfect was now joining the pack, but as usual, Seth didn't dig too much into it. One thing about Seth was he normally didn't stress himself out over much.

"You’ve been blowing us off every time you come up here. Not that I care, but I’m tired of hearing all these women whine about when Vincent's going to return. Since when did I sign up to be your spokesperson? What’s really going on with you?”

Vincent hesitated. This was something he’d kept inside for such a long time.

"I met a girl,” he rushed out before he could convince himself not to reveal this.

He couldn't believe he'd just admitted it, and while he felt a huge sense of relief, he also felt apprehensive.

"First world problems, huh?" Seth snickered as he folded his arms and put his weight on the wall behind him.

"I guess you could say that." Vincent admitted grudgingly, becoming uncomfortable in a way that Seth had never seen from him. Sure he didn't like talking about his relationships but he was never this uncomfortable when discussing them.

"And? What about the girl?" Seth pressed.

"Well…" Vincent shifted awkwardly and lowered his voice. "I really love this girl."

Seth's eyebrows lifted in surprise, and then a slow, unremorseful grin spread on his face. "Holy fucking shit. Well I’ll be. "

Vincent rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

"I guess that explains why you look like Bowie just died."

Vincent cut his eyes at Seth and narrowed them warningly. "Okay, first of all, fuck you for putting Bowie and died in the same sentence."

Seth laughed. Bowie, his dog, was Vincent's favorite in the world besides his mother and little brother.

"Second, if Bowie died, I'd be worse than this. I’m not ashamed to admit that I'd be in tears. I haven't cried about this shit yet and I don't ever plan to, so don't even go there.”

Seth lifted an inquiring eyebrow, not convinced. "So why are you acting like this is the biggest deal in the world?"

"It is a big deal.” When Vincent realized how emphatic he sounded, he retreated back into himself, avoiding eye contact as he added quietly, “When a woman changes you, it's a big deal."

Seth couldn't believe his ears. This was so unlike Vincent. He never let his relationships get to him this much.

"So she's special is what you're saying."

Vincent grimaced. "Don't say it like that."

"Well that's what it is though, right?"

Vincent frowned at his phone. "I guess but I'm not ready for this kind of thing."

"What kind of thing? You mean a relationship?"

"Maybe. You know what?” Vincent stood up suddenly, stuffing his phone into his pocket rigidly as though he abhorred it. Clearly the phone was a source of a lot of his frustrations, Seth noticed.

“Let’s go.” Vincent opened a piece of his luggage and rummaged through it for a new shirt. “You’re right. I don’t want to hear them nag me about not showing up.”

The conversation was clearly no longer up for debate since Vincent walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Despite finding his behavior strange, Seth went to his room to shower too and change into fresher clothes.

With the windows rolled down, the young men drove to Peggy’s with one of Seth’s favorite country songs blasting through the speakers of his truck. It eventually got to a point where Vincent could no longer stand it.

“Could you please turn that garbage off? Three songs is enough already.”

Seth switched the song to none other than his favorite rap station, making Vincent shoot him a dark glare.

“I’d rather die a slow country death.”

Even their tastes in music differed, although they often crossed paths because Seth listened to basically everything. As a music lover sure Vincent listened to all kinds of music but still always found himself back to power pop/alt rock genre and mostly old school hip hop.

“How someone listens to a rap song about female body parts to a country song about being a proud southern fella to classical music is beyond me,” Vincent pointed out, looking out the window of the simple town where both young men grew up.

“What kind of music does she listen to?” Seth asked curiously, unable to remove the teasing in his voice. He imagined she listened to the same type of music. Vincent cared a lot about music and it wouldn't shock Seth if she liked the same things he did--most of his girlfriends

“Who?”

“Your girl.”

Vincent wanted nothing more than to wipe the teasing grin on Seth's face and looked out the window as he murmured under his breath, “She’s not my girl.”

“What do you mean?"

Vincent sighed frustratingly. "We’re not together. I just have feelings for her.”

Seth had heard about such situations many times. He deemed them such a waste of time. Either you wanted to be with someone or you didn't.

“Anyway she listens to pop more than she’d like to admit.”

“She sounds horrendous.”

Vincent laughed and spoke in a tone of admiration, “She likes to play it safe.”

“Two peas in a pod.”

“Trust me, she's ten times worse than me when it comes to playing it safe."

"She sounds like so much fun," Seth said dryly and Vincent simply shook his head. While Vincent was generally cautious, he often broke out of his shell on various occasions around people he trusted. Seth had to give him that.

“Oh come on. Stop looking so depressed. It’s not the end of the world to have feelings for a woman. I mean it's not like you're walking into a death trap, unless you're thinking of marrying her or something like that."

When all Vincent did was stare out the window so that Seth couldn't see the truth, his jaw clenching as he swallowed his words, Seth’s eyeballs nearly popped out of his head.

"Dude, get the fuck out of here!" he said laughingly.

"That's how bad it is Seth," Vincent admitted morosely. Seth stared in disbelief, remembering the days when he and Vincent would be secretly laughing at their friends who’d been suckers for relationships. Not that they too hadn’t gone down those paths. They’d just learned how idiotic it was to be so serious so young. Now his fellow was going through the very thing they used to make fun of their other friends for.

"This is some Twilight Zone shit though. Marriage?"

“I know you’re allergic to that word.”

“Not allergic, just disgusted.”

Vincent rolled his eyes. Seth was the typical guy that saw commitment as a trap and it was getting old because they were getting old and hopping from woman to woman was getting just as old to Vincent. He wasn’t necessarily the type to do that notoriously, that was Seth’s department. Though Vincent was a notorious flirt. He had to own up to that part. He suppressed a smile thinking of how much his mystery woman hated that.

"I’m not thinking about marrying her right now.” Vincent took a deep breath before admitting further, “But…she's someone I can see myself being with in the future, at least in my mind.” He sighed sadly. “It's just a big ol' fantasy though."

"Are you sure we're not talking about Camilla?" he asked doubtfully. Camilla was Vincent's ex. 'The Ex'.

The one that a guy kept going back to no matter how many other women he dated.

"Does Camilla listen to pop? Anyway, please let's not talk about Camilla,” Vincent said warily with a grimace as he rubbed his brow. “She gives me a damn headache and anyway I haven't spoken to her in months and I don’t really care what she’s up to."

It was evident he was still bitter about their bad break up.

"Do I know this mystery girl?" Seth asked, raking his brain to figure out who this woman was. She had to be extremely special to be making his best friend act a fool over her. Vincent knew a lot of people, but Seth knew even more. He was also very good at remembering names and faces, so he tried to pinpoint anyone that had tickled Vincent's fancy. But since he’d been in Traxton he’d met more people that Seth didn’t know.

"Nope.”

“Where’d you meet her?”

“Middle school.”

Seth shot him a surprised look. “The fuck?”

“Yep…” Vincent mused as he recalled just how long he’d known her and kept his feelings for her a secret.

“Did she go to Granick's High?”

Vincent shifted. “I’d really rather not talk about this…”

“So she did. That means I know her." He grinned slyly. "Who was she?”

“Contrary to your deluded mind, you don’t know her.”

“I knew everyone in highschool.”

That was kind of true. He was the typical jock who everyone adored, but he was different in that he adored everyone back. He very seldom played favorites. Even as he was adored, he could still be a jackass with his sometimes too carefree attitude about life. Vincent often had to reel him back into reality.

“The deluded mind continues. No one in our crew knows her. I'd be surprised if anyone in this city does. She's not a people person.”

“Oh so she's one of those."

“That's putting it lightly."

"Really.”

" She's painfully shy. Painfully.” A small smile quirked Vincent's lips as he thought of her. He shook his head. “I love her to death but she's so fucking screwed up man."

When he felt Seth’s questioning gaze, he added. "And I mean that in the most loving way possible."

"In what way is she a screw up?"

Vincent pondered for a while as he picked his words carefully. “Well, you know I like to observe people, and I've noticed that she doesn’t like really being close to others. Not just emotionally. Not even physically. She never had that problem around me and she told me she just always felt safe around me, but around others, she’s very scared. It’s subtle though, you’d have to really watch her to catch it. It’s almost like she’s afraid of opening up to others.”

“But she opens up to you?”

“Yes, but I still sense her holding back in some ways, I don’t know.”

Seth gave him a dreadful look and Vincent looked away guiltily. "I know. I know. But--"

"No buts. I say, if your gut is telling you to stay away from a screw up, you stay away, as far away as you can. Clingy, disturbed, obsessive, bi-polar. The list goes on and on."

"And this is coming from a guy who says don't judge someone until you know their situation."

"Not judging and staying away are two different things. You can ‘not judge’ from a good, far away distance. Next thing you know, she'll be looking for you to fix her. And screw ups can't be fixed."

"Yes they can. Look, I know you're saying this from experience. But she's a really sweet girl, like really sweet and she's been through a lot lately. She's really closed off, I try to get her to open up but she's," he shrugged helplessly, making it clear he was having a hard time figuring her out. "I don't know."

"This sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, man."

"The fact that you can't even define her is what I meant. I'm just saying, you sound kind of confused about her."

Vincent's failure to respond was confirmation enough. Seth felt he wasn’t helping injecting his opinions over a woman he didn’t care about. Vincent was being vague about her too, which didn’t help, but Seth didn’t care either way. He wasn’t one to go digging and investigating someone’s business especially if they weren’t willing to spill it all.

He could see that whatever the situation was, it was eating at Vincent, so he sympathized with him, but only a little bit. Seth very rarely felt sympathy for people, not because he was heartless, but he was more of the tough love type.

"But hey, so what if she's screwed up, aren't we all in one way or the other? Some people just hide it better. At least you'd know what you're getting into with her, right?"

"I guess."

" I don’t really think we can date."

"Why not?"

Vincent hesitated and then said, "I don’t know."

Seth was finding Vincent's behavior odd. What could possibly keep them from dating? Then it hit him and he told him warningly. "You better not be messing with another man's woman. That's like rule number one--"

"Come on. Give me a break. I would never do that."

"So why can't you be together? Is she single?"

"Oh he's very single."

"What does that mean?"

"Like no experience whatsoever, dude."

Seth’s eyes widened and he almost looked terrified. "Oh fuck."

Vincent laughed. "I know. Your favorite type."

Seth had very little patience for shy women because in his opinion they had to be babied.

"What, so you're in love with a girl who you haven't even…I mean have you even hit that yet?"

Vincent grimaced. "Hit that?” he caught up with Seth, who kept on walking unabated. “Don't ever say that again. That's embarrassing lingo."

"Well?" Seth pressed.

"…No.”

“You haven’t even gotten any and you're acting like this?”

"Gotten any, huh?” Vincent murmured in annoyance at Seth’s slang but decided to let it go. “I mean, we've done some stuff but we're taking it slow and you know how I feel about sleeping around without commitment."

"You mean that girl you talked about fucking two weeks ago, a month after your professed journey into celibacy?"

Vincent sighed. "Okay that was a slip up because I was frustrated with Mystery Girl."

"What's her name?"

"She shall remain nameless."

"Is she on Connected?”

“You would never know who she is."

For some reason Seth found that comment odd.

"She doesn’t say much. Doesn't have a picture up. And you can’t see my page without being on there, remember?”

Seth deleted his Connected page two days after making it. He was bombarded with dumb questions and didn't really see the point of it since he didn't get on it much. His female friends were the ones who mainly begged him to get back on but most gave up because Seth only did things when he felt like it, not when people asked him to.

“Why can't you just say who she is?" he asked as they walked to the house.

"Because god forbid if I tell you, you will go and harass her. You two wouldn’t mix at all anyway. You can’t stand shy girls like her and she’s scared of guys like you. Has told me over and over how ya’lls kind terrified her in high school, always running down the halls like madmen."

“Ya’lls kind? What the hell does that mean? And you act like you weren’t right there with us running down the halls.”

“At least I knew when and how to be a gentleman. But I’d rather you didn’t bother her. She’s very sensitive and emotional.”

"Aka a disaster waiting to happen."r32;
Vincent just shook his head.

"Look, don't make it so complicated. You like her, you want her, go get her. If she's too difficult, move on to someone else. You can’t go wrong with six billion other people to choose from. Not that hard."

"You are the simplest minded yet most deluded human being I have ever met. And that's not a compliment."

Seth shrugged and Vincent mused quietly as they made it to the house, before chuckling to himself.

"What?" Seth asked.

"It’s funny, she asks me if you're a clown based on what I've told her about you."

"Clown? She thinks I'm a clown?"

"A loony whorish clown to be exact.”

Seth looked at him in disbelief and instead of being offended he just laughed. Seth was one of the most easy-going people but he did wonder where this girl got off talking about him like she knew him.

A lot of people took him as a joke, and he couldn’t blame them. He often gave off an uncaring demeanor, but it worked to his favor. People thought they knew all about him but they really didn’t. They underestimated him because of his happy-go-lucky personality and his family’s wealth, but underneath was a very observant young man who worked hard to earn what he wanted. Sure, some things were handed to him, but there were things he got on his own. He just didn’t feel the need to declare it loudly like he used to.

“You are a rather ridiculous human being,” Vincent added.

“What have you told her about me?” Seth wondered.

“The truth and nothing but.”

"Well screw your special lady friend, whoever she is, even though by your words she’s already screwed. And tell her I'd rather be a crazy whorish clown than a screwed up virginal bat.”

"Bat?”

“You said she lingers in the shadows, did you not?”

Vincent laughed, “Asshole."