CHAPTER 2
Sitting in a brown, leather, overstuffed chair in the front corner of Spirits, a local coffee shop in the center of town, I was fighting back a yawn. Thinking of how I’d ended up with my current life always seemed to drain me. However, when Sharon called drunk from a bar after her fling of the night abandoned her needing a designated driver duty called for me to save the day once again. The only positive in the situation was that she had called before eight o’clock. Sharon was an all-day drinker, so by the time seven or eight o’clock rolled around, I could count on the fact that she was already blitzed somewhere.
She only used my number as a last resort, so I didn’t hear from her very often. Not to mention, she begged worse than a starving, blind man at a highway intersection! Against my better judgment, I drove myself to her rescue, hoping she wouldn’t upchuck in my car on the ten-minute drive back to her house. Lucky for me, Sharon at least held her liquor until I pulled on to the gravel parking space in front of her house, which was basically a one-bedroom shack. Since I don’t deal well with sickness, nausea, and vomiting, I left Sharon on her knees in the front yard. I kind of felt like she deserved it since she purposely drank herself into oblivion.
I always had a problem when it came to having pity on those who refuse to help themselves and continue to destroy their own lives then have the audacity to complain about the fact that their life sucks. I really tried to be understanding as much as possible the way my mother always had been, but half of the time I caught myself being hard and unsympathetic like my father could often be.
Walking into Sharon’s house last night, I was sickened. I wasn’t sure how any person on the planet could live in a place like this. The first thing that hit me was the smell, which sent me automatically into dry heaving. The odor was so offensive I pulled my shirt up over my nose to try to filter the air I breathed; I could practically feel the particles of bacteria enter my body through my nose. It was the mixture of raw sewage, old garbage that hadn’t been taken out in over a week, and an overpowering scent of ammonia coming from a dirty litter box in the entryway, which was overflowing with clumps of cat urine and feces. As I went into the living room, the furniture and carpet was coated in cat hair so thick it was clear it hadn’t been vacuumed in months.
Just behind the couch was the kitchen. The sink was so full of dirty dishes that they were stacked onto the cabinets as well with food caked, dried, and molded on them. When I looked closer, I discovered maggots wriggling in the food all over the kitchen. The stove was so heavily caked in grease I was sure cockroaches were turning the place into a breeding ground while planning a strategic way to divide and conquer.
In the hallway, the smell of body odor from dirty laundry was so overwhelming that it made my eyes burn. When I got to the bathroom, my gag reflex was officially in overdrive. There were dried pools of urine, and fecal matter was smeared all over the toilet seat. Hair was stuck in soap scum all around the sides of the bathtub, and the bathroom counter had some unrecognizable residue caked a fourth of an inch thick, while the sink had dried blood all over the side.
As I stood in the doorway, looking into the small but potent bathroom, I was on the verge of passing out from the combination of putrid aromas. I was fairly certain that if anyone were to turn her in for living this way at the moment, her house would be condemned. I couldn’t leave her in this mess even though I knew she had every physical ability necessary to clean it up all by herself. It was horrible! Just breathing the air for any time period at all was toxic. I went outside to my car, shouting at Sharon that I would be back, knowing she probably didn’t hear a word I said. Then I headed for the nearest store.
Ten minutes later, I had every cleaning supply known to man and three pairs of rubber gloves. As I hauled my purchases inside, I noticed Sharon had made it past the mountains of laundry without falling and injuring herself, landed diagonally on her bed, and passed out with her shoes still on. I was actually glad. If she was asleep, that meant I didn’t have to associate with her. I looked around, assessing the damage, and figured the quicker I started the quicker I would be done. Pulling on the rubber gloves as far as I could toward my elbows, I decided to tackle the laundry first. When I was done with all the laundry, I came to the conclusion that there were at least three other people’s clothes here besides Sharon’s.
Everything about this house in general was repulsive. Why on earth anyone would allow the place they lived in to get so out of hand, I would never be able to understand.
My temper flared and I felt my temperature start to rise. I felt it start in my feet as a slow tingle. I knew it was coming. The temper I had gotten from my dad had the tendency to come on so quickly that I never had time to try and take control of it. When I lost it, I always felt as though someone had replaced the blood in my body with kerosene—as it got hotter, the angrier I became. I now felt the tingling heat of anger over more than half of my body rising toward my head. I knew when I felt my face flush with heat that soon everything would go black and I would once again have no recollection of what happened until it was over.
It only took me two and a half hours after I had come back to full consciousness to find the place sparkling and smelling like a house should. I was finished in record time and couldn’t help thinking even Mr. Clean himself would have given me a well-deserved pat on the back for my efforts. Unfortunately, I became so exhausted that I didn’t think I should drive for fear of falling asleep at the wheel or being pulled over and suspected of driving under the influence. I pulled out my phone, debating on texting Lena to let her know where I was, but didn’t. I hadn’t asked what her plans were before I left the house and didn’t want to interrupt her if she was busy. More than likely, she was probably out on some hot date with some hot guy that she met in some questionable place while wearing some provocative outfit, which danced on the thin line between sexy and inappropriate. The more I weighed the options, the heavier my eyelids felt. I fought the urge to sleep as long as I could, but before I knew it, exhaustion had won the battle and I was sound asleep on the couch, forgetting all about Lena.
As I had come to expect with every sleep, along came the nightmare. The same nightmare I’d had every night for the past three years since my parent’s death. As always, I woke up in the dark sweating profusely and gasping for air as my heart threatened to explode out of my chest. I thought maybe it would have gone away as time passed or at least would not come as often, but I had not gotten so lucky. The nightmare was just as terrifying tonight as it had been the first night it occurred three years ago.
I concentrated on steadying my breathing and slowing my heart rate, which wasn’t as easy here on Sharon’s couch as it was at home. Maybe it was because I was leery of who had done what on this piece of ragged furniture, or maybe it was just being near Sharon at all that put me on edge. Generally when this happened I went to the library and read until I felt sleepy again. Tonight that certainly wasn’t an option.
Giving up on trying to go back to sleep, I turned on the cheap dollar-store lamp that sat on the particleboard end table and looked around. Deciding I would much rather drive home and lie down in my bed that felt like a cloud so that I could at least be comfortable for the remaining hours I rubbed my eyes trying to wake up. Looking at my cell phone, I saw it was 2:00 a.m. That was about right. The nightmare always occurred around the same time every night, give or take a few minutes. I didn’t bother leaving Sharon a note, assuming she wouldn’t remember anything about calling me, and even if she did, it wasn’t like she was going to be appreciative in any form or fashion of me going out of my way to pick her up and then vigorously cleaning the rat hole of a dump she called home. I looked around, making sure I didn’t leave anything, before grabbing my keys and heading out the door. I knew if I left anything in this house I would never see it again.
Outside the air was chilly and the dew was beginning to form on the grass. I slid behind the wheel of my new, metallic blue Volkswagen Beetle and turned the engine, hearing it purr to life. I was so proud of my first car. I’d saved up and bought it right off the lot in cash. My dad would be proud. I often wished he could have watched me drive off the car lot in it on my sixteenth birthday. Not only did I love my car but, I had my MP3 player loaded with my favorite songs ready to go as soon as I started the car.
Before I pulled out of the gravel drive, I plugged my cell phone up to the car charger, noticing I had a text message. Clicking the button to read it, I noticed it was from Lena.
“Hey, what’s your 10-20?” Lena loved using police code shorthand for some strange reason.
It showed to have only been sent ten minutes ago, so I replied, hoping she hadn’t fallen asleep yet.
“Had to go rescue the town drunk again. Got to her house and well, you don’t want to know. Words just can’t describe. I should’ve taken pictures. On my way home don’t wait up.”
“How exciting. I was out and about myself. I’ll give you details over breakfast at Spirits. Meet me at 7?”
“Roger that, over and out.”
Spirits was the kind of place that made you feel at home, even if not for the staff that provided excellent eye candy.
The owner had told me once that he named it Spirits because no matter how bad your day was after being here it would always lift your spirit. The fresh smell of espresso, the scent of assorted muffins and scones coming out of the oven, and the free Wi-Fi were all selling points for me when it came to spending time at Spirits, but I had to admit the best thing about Spirits was Avan.
Avan had moved here six months ago, transferring to Oceanview High School. He worked at Spirits as a waiter before school and during the evenings after school, alongside his best friend Bradley Morton. He had transferred into Oceanview from being a home school student and was now in my Spanish and history classes, which meant that I spent a good majority of my day staring at him. I admired Avan from a distance since I had never really talked to him unless it was to give him my order.
I had thought about how amazing it would be to strike up a conversation with him, but I was too shy to ever consider it a real possibility. Being such a chicken, I resorted to the usual girl behavior—writing his name all over the pages of my notebook when I was supposed to be taking notes in class.
Avan was one of those guys who had to know he was gorgeous. It reflected in everything he did—from the way he walked to the way he had every girl in school staring and drooling as he walked down the hall. He was also one of those guys who had brains as well as looks, making him seem as though he had a smart remark to everything that anyone said, which was a bit intimidating. He had a confident attitude that could almost be mistaken as cocky, and I couldn’t help being drawn to it.
Even though most everyone else thought he walked around like he owned the universe, I sensed something different about him. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but he just wasn’t like the other run-of-the-mill, obnoxious males at our school. Not to mention, he sat in the row beside me two seats up in both classes, so I was distracted by looking at him all the time.
I suppose the mystery of where he lived and that no one knew who his parents were only added to my fascination with him. He never talked about his home life at all, and no one asked. Even his best friend, Bradley, who I had a class with, never talked about going to his house or anything.
One thing I did know was that Avan Rork was the most attractive person I had ever laid eyes on. It was obvious by looking at Avan that he packed his off work time at a gym somewhere. He wasn’t bulky muscular, but the tight white t-shirt definitely showed off the definition of his exquisite physique. His arms were the kind you dream about getting wrapped up in and never letting go. Avan had a square jaw, perfect teeth, full lips that begged to be kissed, and a dimple in his right cheek when he smiled. I wasn’t sure exactly how tall he was but even when I wore heels, he was still slightly taller than I was.
He always wore Aqua di Gio cologne that screamed my name, begging me to push him against the wall and kiss him with everything I had.
I glanced down at my watch, seeing that it was five minutes to seven. Sitting back, I sighed, hoping the exhaustion would leave with it, but I had no such luck. I knew Lena would be at least five minutes late. Lena has always liked to make an entrance so it never shocks me for her to be fashionably late.
It was 7:15 a.m. when Lena finally pulled up in her new, shiny, black Corvette. Damien trades the cars in every year for new models, so Lena always had the hottest car of anyone at Oceanview. Walking in the door wearing snakeskin heels, a black mini skirt, and a low-cut top that caught every male’s attention in the room, she spotted me and waved. Lena waltzed to the bar where Avan was putting money into the register and leaned across the counter in her low-cut top, making sure to give her most come and get me if you dare vibe out. Avan picked up a pen and asked her what she wanted, ignoring her attempts at flirtation. She finally picked something, and he scribbled it on the paper without even looking at her before turning away.
“I don’t get it!” Lena said as she took the seat opposite mine. “Maybe he’s gay.”
“He is certainly not gay, Lena!” I almost choked on my coffee as I laughed.
“Well, he certainly isn’t an easy one to tempt, which is weird, because he could have definite potential! Everyone knows he could be with any girl in school if he wanted.” Lena wrinkled her nose as she lifted a perfectly shaped eyebrow.
“Wish he’d pick me,” I added under my breath so that Lena didn’t hear.
“I’m telling you that boy has no idea what he is missing!”
“Maybe he’s just really focused. I mean, if he flirted with all the girls, then they would come to Spirits to see him, they would spend money while they’re here, and voila, he increases business! But then a catfight would break out, cops would be called, you know how it goes. Things could get ugly really fast!” I retorted, trying to divert her attention by slurping my coffee. I thought, I would come spend every dime I had if he flirted with me! while sitting back and taking in how perfect he looked behind the bar, even though he probably had no idea I existed.
“He is a cocky, smart-mouthed jerk anyway. What would a girl possibly want with him anyway, except on an adventurous and playful encounter? He’s a little too perfect to be a keeper. He’s the kind that I would have to chase down and capture. But that’s what duct tape and gags are for! Just stick him in the trunk and run off with him if and let him go once I got bored.”
Lena never ceased to amaze me with what came out of her mouth at a moment’s notice.
“So I have a proposition,” she continued with a snaky grin on her face. “I have this friend, and he doesn’t have a girlfriend, and since you don’t have a boyfriend I was thinking maybe—”
“Lena, are you seriously trying to hook me up with a blind date?”
“Let’s not look at it using ugly terminology like that.”
“If I don’t know him, it’s a blind date!” I couldn’t stop the involuntary rolling of my eyes after my response.
“Okay, but you kinda know him.”
“Have I met him?”
“Well no, but I’ve talked about him so you know of him.” Lena had that tone in her voice that was tinted with a pretty please.
“Who is he?”
I could tell she knew I would give in, so she was excited to bait the line.
“Okay, remember last summer when I went with Daddy to that movie shoot for a month?”
“Okay, I’ll bite, keep talking.”
“Well, remember me telling you about the guy that was super cute that was hired to help set up lighting?”
“Vaguely, but I’ve slept since then, and considering that you tell me about at least three different guys every week, it’s hard for me to remember specifics.” I really didn’t like where this was going, but I got the impression Lena didn’t really give a rat’s hind end.
“So okay, he is moving here next week. He graduated last year, just turned eighteen, is incredibly hot, has a great personality, and I really think you would look cute together.”
“Great.” I dragged the word out so that she could see I was not enthusiastic.
“All right, so I’ll take that as a yes. Here’s the deal. He’s going to be in town as of this weekend, so I’ll have him pick you up at eight on Saturday.”
“What? You just said he wouldn’t be here until next week!”
“No, I said he was moving here next week, which means the moving van with all his things will be here Monday. He is coming in this weekend so he can be ready when the moving truck gets here. So be ready by eight, no excuses!” With that, Lena went to the restroom, only returning to change the subject.
Even though she had started on another topic, my mind could not get over the whole idea of hers. That is when it occurred to me that Lena already had this entire thing planned. I didn’t have a say in this at all. I started to panic when the thought hit me that I had no idea what this guy looked like, what his interests were, or even where we were going. Lena had changed the subject, ranting on and on about her date last night, but I didn’t hear a single word she said as I sat in terror, dreading this blind date with mystery guy. Surely he had to be okay as far as passing a background check anyway. They don’t let people with a dirty rap sheet work around celebrity movie sets, right? I tried to ease my mind by telling myself that at least Damien probably knew who this guy was, but I still had overwhelming anxiety.
Looking at my cell phone, I noticed it was already ten minutes till eight.
“Okay, guys, I’ll be back this afternoon. I’m gonna head out for class!” Avan yelled out to the other employees as he walked out the door and sprinted for his white Mustang that was parked right in front.
Once again, I wanted to say something to him, but I was too shy and too late. Lena and I hurried to our cars and headed toward the Oceanview High School parking lot, five blocks away on Summerset Avenue.
The drive to school was always the same from Spirits.
As I started going again after another red light turned green, I realized I had not even asked what my mystery date’s name was. I still could not believe I was going to let Lena go through with this. Blind dates in my mind translated into events for losers who could not get a date on their own. Was I really a loser? I sure knew I felt like I fit right into the loser club at this moment as the words blind date echoed through my head. How had I gotten to the point of allowing my best friend to set me up with a complete stranger? I may as well have asked Sharon if she knew any guys from the bar that wanted to go grab a burger and a movie. Okay, perhaps I was exaggerating a bit with that comparison.
Could I get away with faking a sickness? Maybe I could suddenly get a migraine on Saturday and be bad enough that I couldn’t make it. It sounded lame, but it was the only backup plan I had since ditching dates wasn’t something I had to deal with very often. Lena wouldn’t be caught dead talking to someone who, on a scale of one to ten, didn’t score an eight at least, according to her rating system. Based on that, I couldn’t imagine her hooking someone up with her best friend if she didn’t think he had potential.
Since we lived in the same house, attended the same school, and hung out with each other quite a bit, if things went well, she would end up being around this guy a lot. I guess you could say Lena was a bit picky. Even when I liked someone she didn’t know, she was always trying to pick them apart in attempt to find something wrong with them. I needed to decide one way or the other what I was going to do, and I was beginning to scare myself as I realized I was starting to not be against the idea of the blind date as strongly as I was at first. It was just one date. What could one date hurt?
This guy could end up being my Prince Charming. If I didn’t go, would I be passing up the opportunity to meet Mr. Right? What if he was romantic, thoughtful, chivalrous, and had looks that would make a Greek god jealous? Brought out of my daydream by someone behind me laying on the horn, I realized I had almost sat through the entire green light while I was lingering on thoughts of my mystery man. Oh yeah, I was definitely going on this date!
Rounding the curve that led to the right, the parking lot to Oceanview High School came into sight.
I drove up and down the aisles in the parking lot that was directly in front of the school, looking for decent parking, when I glanced at the clock on my dashboard. I had five minutes before the tardy bell was going to ring. There was no way I was going to make it even if I found a great parking space and bolted across campus and up the stairs at this point, so I figured I might as well take my time. My feet were already aching from the pair of super cute new shoes I’d put on my feet this morning, even though I knew they were far from broken in. Looking through the aisles once more, I pulled into the last parking spot in row A, the closest row to the school but still a nice hike to the entrance. I turned the car off and took a deep breath, dreading having to go to the office to get my first official unexcused tardy slip. I didn’t mind retrieving it nearly as much as I hated the thought of giving it to my first-period teacher, Ms. Greer. Knowing it couldn’t be avoided, I grabbed my purse and book bag before locking the car and heading for the main entrance.
Walking in the door, the bell rang so loudly I could feel my brain vibrate inside my skull. It never sounded this loud when I was on time, sitting safe and sound in my chair. Walking into the double glass doors, I could see the line of students waiting in the office to collect their tardy slips through the office windows. A majority of them had the look on their faces that depicted they must get tardies quite often.
I, on the other hand, could feel the deer in headlights look on my face, thinking of the sheer terror of ruining my perfect attendance tardy free record. I was the last one in line and it was moving so slowly I thought I saw a snail pass me and make its way over to the secretary’s desk. The more seconds that ticked away, the more I fidgeted. At this rate I wasn’t going to be counted tardy, I was going to be counted absent. Every few minutes the phone would ring causing the secretary to break away from what she was doing to answer it and take down another message to be stuffed in another mailbox.
When I walked into class after receiving my tardy slip, Ms. Greer’s eyes locked onto me from where she stood at the blackboard in the front of the room. Whatever she had been teaching had come to a halt. Her icy glare would have splattered me on the wall if looks could kill. I laid the slip on her desk and tried to make my way to my desk. Unfortunately, when I started down the row where my empty desk sat waiting for me, the heel of my shoe caught on the strap of someone’s backpack.
I lunged forward with my hair flying in all directions as I gasped. My hands flailed out in front of me as I tried to find something to grab and regain my composure. My attempt failed. Instead, my right hand hit Kimberly Newton’s notepad, which caused the pen on top to go sailing through the air just in time to hit Ms. Greer in the forehead as she turned around to see what all the commotion was. Glancing quickly in Kimberly’s direction, she had covered her mouth and her eyes had grown to the size of quarters as I continued to fall in the most ungraceful pose you can imagine.
At that point, my left had hit Bradley Morton square in the face as he quickly covered his nose with both hands so that no one could see the blood! As I landed with a loud thud, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head as it made impact with the chair attached to my desk. I felt myself blushing as everyone gathered around me. Bradley, who was already trying to head out the door for the bathroom, had taken off his jacket, holding it to his face to prevent anyone seeing his bloody nose.
If I would have had the option to crawl under a rock and die at that point, I would have. Too shocked to even laugh, I had no idea how I was going to handle this. I was hoping I would pass out from the pain I felt in the back of my head, but it was not happening. Just then, the most unpleasant face of all loomed right over mine with a big pen mark right on her forehead.
“Miss Holland, I expect that on Monday morning you will have prepared a two-page essay on the importance of being on time and not being a classroom disturbance!” Ms. Greer’s voice croaked directly at me.
I picked myself up off the floor, apologizing to Kimberly, who gathered her things and straightened her desk. Sliding into my chair, I felt a huge knot on the back of my head as I tried to straighten my hair up a little. My head was starting to ache, but I wasn’t about to try my luck for a hall pass to the nurse for some aspirin. I was afraid Ms. Greer might just grab a textbook or her copy of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare and beat me to death with it. I was just going to have to tough it out until class was over at least.
Making the least amount of noise possible, I unzipped my book bag and took out my notebook and a pen. Things calmed down for the remainder of the class, but I knew as soon as the bell rang I would be the topic of conversation and by the end of the day, the whole school would hear about my faux pas.
I knew that as time went by the talk would fade, and this would just be a memory that I wouldn’t like reflecting on, but for right now it was a very big deal. I didn’t even want to entertain the idea of how Avan would react when he heard about this little mishap. For some reason the thought of Avan hearing about my little stunt bothered me more than anyone else in the entire school. I knew it was inevitable for him to hear about it since Bradley was one of his best friends and coworkers. I could see it now, instead of him being his adoring self at Spirits, he would be pointing, whispering, and laughing with Bradley as I tried to crawl under a table and disappear. There was no way I could face him in Spanish third period and again in history during sixth period, so that is when I decided to resort to plan B.
Plan B entailed me going straight to the nurse’s office with complaints of an unbearable migraine brought on by the collision of my head and chair. At that point she would try to call Sharon to get her permission to allow me to leave school and get a recorded message from her cell phone carrier stating that her number was disconnected or no longer in service. Next, she would then move to the next adult listed as being responsible. Once speaking with Damien Montgomery, who would undoubtedly approve, I would be homeward bound.
Damien would let us skip school completely to go shopping if we wanted to. All we had to do was ask and he would call the school, letting his acting ability shine as he covered for us in addition to faxing some very realistic looking doctor’s notes. I had never taken advantage of this fact, but Lena did all the time, and I had been told repeatedly if I ever wanted to all I had to do was say the magic word. I felt better knowing I had a plan. This weekend I would take it easy and have fun, scribble out my stupid essay, and rebuild my self-esteem so that Monday morning I could walk in the door with my head held high and take the ball back into my court by laughing at myself when it was brought up.
I’ve always been told that you can’t really enjoy life if you can’t learn to laugh at yourself. By Monday this would just be easier to deal with all the way around. Today, however, it was a different story. The cut was still fresh and needed a little time to heal. I just needed to go home and sleep it off. I wanted to let my head rest on the mountain of pillows as I slid into my ecru-colored, satin sheets and slip into a state of supreme relaxation where I could pretend the world didn’t exist for at least the next twenty-four hours. Yes, plan B was very inviting!
The bell rang, and I was high tailing it to the nurse’s office. Upon my arrival, I saw that the door was closed most of the way with a sign that said Please Knock. Leaving a small crack, I could see Bradley was still inside. Just the sight of Bradley made me feel so guilty about what had happened. He was sitting on a cot and leaning back against the wall as he held a wad of gauze to his nose with his head tilted up. How could I possibly knock on the door and use my migraine story when it was obvious that I didn’t get a physical injury even close to the one I’d accidently inflicted on him! There were two chairs in the hall outside the door that I could use to wait in until Bradley left, but I didn’t want him to see me there. I knew he had much more of a need to be in the nurse’s office than I did, so I would just have to find somewhere else to hide and wait until he had left.
Across the hall from the nurse’s office was our school counselor’s office. It had been announced earlier in the week that she would be out for a week to have surgery on her wrist due to a nasty case of carpal tunnel. I decided if the door was unlocked I would just wait there until I was sure Bradley was gone. If it was locked, my only other choice was the girl’s bathroom. So many people went in and out of there so I was sure to be turned in for hiding out in a stall. Plus, who really wants to spend more time than they really have to in a public restroom?
Taking a few more steps, I placed my hand on the door that conveniently opened without a sound. I didn’t turn on the light for fear of being caught so I had to feel around in the dark for the chair that sat against the wall. Leaving the door open just enough to see out I took up post like I was on a stake out. Finally, about fifteen minutes later I saw Bradley emerge from the door, leaving it wide open behind him. I wouldn’t come out until he was completely out of view. Suddenly he stopped midstride and turned around. It was almost as if he were looking right at me, even though I knew there was no way he had any clue where I was. He started walking right toward me as he kept his eyes locked on the door that led into the dark office where I was hiding. Panic stricken, I had no idea what to do. There was no way he could have seen me sneak into the dark office. Why was he coming straight for me? Without even realizing I was holding my breath I felt my lungs begin to ache as the dizziness began setting in.
“Mr. Morton?” The voice of the secretary rang out over the hall. Suddenly I really liked the woman I had been blaming my nervous stupor on this morning.
Bradley turned his back to me looking at the secretary. I could tell he was tense.
“Did you finish up with the nurse?” she asked, looking as though she was actually pressing for more information.
“Yeah, I just forgot my pen. No worries, though, I’ll just swing by my locker and grab another one.” When he responded, he lost all the tenseness. He had a cool almost cunning tone to his voice.
“For a moment I thought maybe you were lost. There’s no need in wasting more time by going all the way to your locker for a pen, Mr. Morton. Here, just take mine and get to class.” She handed him the pen with a look on her face that said she was less than satisfied with his excuse for sneaking around the hallway.
“Well, I guess I should go. Are you sure you won’t be lonely without me?” I could tell he was wearing one of those smiles guys wear when they do or say something intentionally to get a rise out of someone.
“Mr. Morton, please go to class before I change my mind and give you a detention slip along with that pen.” The secretary was obviously not amused by Bradley’s humor.
“Only if you promise to write your number on the bottom so we can continue this steamy conversation later, sweetcheeks,” Bradley replied with a wink.
Okay, even I had to admit, that took cajones! I had to choke back a laugh that threatened to give away my hiding spot for good. I thought I was going to suffocate trying not to laugh as I watched the secretary’s face. It was almost like watching cartoons. She turned red starting at her neck and it rose up to her head. Her eyes got so big I thought they might just blow out of her head, and her lips tightened into such a thin line I could barely even tell they were still there.
“Ya know, on second thought, my mom probably wouldn’t be happy if I brought home somebody that was a year or two older than her, so why don’t we just go our separate ways and agree on friends. Sound good? Oh, don’t be mad, baby. If you still need me to come over and show you a good time a few nights a week, we can work something out.”
With that comment she exploded.
“Mr. Morton, you just earned yourself a suspension for the rest of the day. Come with me right now!”
The secretary stomped off with her heels clicking hard on the floor. Before following behind her, Bradley turned back to me one more time and winked with a sideways grin. Turning back the other way, he didn’t act like suspension was anything new and carried himself with a worry-free vibe. I couldn’t help but smile as I released my laughter quietly before heading across the hall to see the nurse.
Within five minutes, I was released to go home with a warm smile from the nurse as she gave me advice on what to do to ease migraines and wishes for me to feel better soon. She made me take a couple of aspirin and asked if I was going to be able to drive. I assured her I would be all right until I got home, where I planned to go straight to bed in hopes of sleeping it off. She agreed that it sounded like the best plan and told me not to forget to ask the teachers for my make-up assignments on Monday and not to worry that she would get the word around to let them know I’d gone home sick. With that, I headed for the door.
The sun felt good on my face when I got to the parking lot and headed to my car. A three-day weekend never hurt anyone. I unlocked my car, tossing all my things into the passenger seat. My feet were hurting worse now than they had this morning in the line to get my tardy slip; I took my shoes off and tossed them into the passenger side floorboard before sliding behind the wheel. Looking in the mirror on the underside of my sun visor, something caught my eye. I pushed the visor up and turned my attention to my windshield wipers. Under the wiper right in front of me, a folded piece of paper had been tucked underneath it. Getting back out of my car, I grabbed a piece of paper from the windshield and got back in before I unfolded it.
I looked on the outside of the paper to see if it might indicate who left it there. Lena sometimes would leave a note for me lying around somewhere, but she always wrote to and from labels on the outside. This paper wasn’t labeled at all. As I unfolded it, I saw it only had a single sentence printed on it in black ink that didn’t look like it was from a normal computer printer. The letters left indentions on the paper like they’d been typed with a typewriter. Who even had a typewriter anymore? It was then that I read the sentence that said:
You are in danger.
I was in danger? I sat in my car, idling in the parking lot, trying to decide what to do with the note. I could turn it in to the police and file a report, but without having any proof of who put it there, what good would that do? Okay, what was my next choice? I could pretend I hadn’t received it. Besides, it was probably just a horrible attempt at a practical joke. It didn’t take much time for me to decide this was the choice I was going to go with. I folded the note back up and stuck it in my glove compartment, put on my sunglasses, and put the car in gear heading for home.