The Wrong Path

Chapter Eight





Annabelle clasped her books to her chest as she fought her way through the crowded hallway to her next class. Trevor hadn’t shown up at her classroom to walk her to her next class, so she was trying to make her way by herself, a nearly impossible feat during the first lunch period. Students milled about without a care, clogging up the hallway and leaving barely enough space to let one student go through at a time.

She cried out as she slammed into someone, her books scattering onto the ground with the other person’s. She stared at them in dismay, then hurriedly knelt down to gather them up.

“Sorry,” she apologized quickly, blushing furiously. She picked up one of the books that wasn’t hers and held it out. “Here,” she said, the word dying in her throat as she found herself staring at Will’s friend Ebony.

“Thanks,” Ebony said calmly, her tone daring.

“You got out,” Annabelle breathed, relief flooding through her. Ebony’s eyes widened in surprise, so she went on quickly. “I was with Will when you guys got taken away, and he was really upset about the whole thing, and then when I heard someone from our school had called you guys in after some rumor that you guys brought… that stuff… to the party a couple of weeks ago—“

Ebony suddenly smiled, her face a mixture of confusion and amusement. “I see,” she said, as if she had discovered something.

Startled, Annabelle paused in picking up their books. “What?” she asked.

Ebony handed over one of Annabelle’s books she had picked up. Annabelle placed it on her stack, still confused. “We’ve never really met,” she said, holding out her hand. “Ebony.”

Annabelle felt a surge of happiness go through her as she took the girl’s hand. “Annabelle. And it’s really nice to meet you.”

They finished gathering their things and stood, Ebony still studying her with an almost pleased look. “I like your skirt,” Ebony said, nodding down at the plaid, pleaded skirt Annabelle had paired with a dark blue polo shirt.

She looked down at it automatically, then grinned up at her. “You can borrow it if you’d like,” she offered. She tried to picture Ebony in her skirt, and smiled at the thought. Ebony would probably do something totally crazy and fun with it, like pair it with ripped tights and combat boots or something Annabelle couldn’t dream up. Even now, she could never have thought to put together the ensemble of patterns, ripped clothes, lace-up knee-high boots, and black leather skirt.

Ebony laughed and leaned back, eyeing her appreciatively. “That would be cool. Thanks.”

“Sure! I’ll wash it tonight and bring it in for you tomorrow.” That reminded her… she still hadn’t given Will his shirt back.

Ebony grinned. “Cool. Thanks.”

“Anytime!” The warning bell rang, and Annabelle looked up, disappointed. “I’ve gotta go. I’ll see you later.”

Ebony nodded, and the two girls went in opposite directions down the hall. Annabelle felt strangely giddy as she hurried to her classroom. She had made a friend, of her own merit, being herself, and nothing bad had happened.

At least, she thought nothing bad had happened. Later, at lunch, she heard Claudia’s carefully practiced, airy voice say, “So, Annabelle… I heard you got slammed into in the hallway by that disgusting skank Ebony.”

Startled, she looked up from her soda. “What?” she asked, flushing when she noticed the entire table had gone silent waiting for her answer. “No. We bumped into each other because it was crowded. She didn’t slam into me.”

“I heard it was practically an attack,” Claudia went on, shaking her head in a disapproving way that was so clearly fake Annabelle couldn’t believe no one else was picking up on it. “How tacky. Her first day back to school and she’s coming after you. She must think you’re the one who ratted them out. You should be careful, Annabelle. Who knows how they’ll try to get back at you?”

She felt her back go rigid in fear. Was that why Ebony had been so nice to her? Was she just pretending to be nice to lower Annabelle’s defenses so they could retaliate?

No. Ebony had been so nice. It couldn’t be.

Could it?

For the next three periods, everyone who talked to her all warned her about Ebony’s ulterior motives. By the end of the day she was nearly sick with anxiety. She just wanted to go home and get away from all the people who felt the need to weigh in on her life.

After all… Will was friends with Ebony, and he wouldn’t let Ebony do anything to her.

Would he?

Of course he wouldn’t, Annabelle assured herself, admonishing herself for even entertaining the thought. Will had been nothing but a good friend to her.

But… what if Will were in on it, too?

She felt her stomach churn even as she approached Trevor’s locker. “Trevor!” she greeted breathlessly, watching as he turned at the sound of his name.

A charming, warm smile gracing his features. “Hey, baby,” he returned. He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss that ordinarily would have made her heart skip, but now only felt… necessary. He paused and leaned back, frowning. “What’s wrong?”

She forced a smile. “Nothing. I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to catch a ride home with Claire. I’m kind of tired.”

He held her shoulders, concern marring his attractive features. “Is everything okay?” he asked, frowning.

She shook back her hair and rolled her eyes, giving him her practiced, teasing smile. “Of course. I’m just a little sleepy so I wanted to go home and take a nap so that when you come over later I’m awake.”

He grinned, and she was a little disappointed at how well he bought her act. “Okay. Well call me if you need anything. I’ll see you after practice.”

She didn’t want to see him, or anyone, tonight, but she nodded. “Definitely.” She reached up and kissed him lightly, then headed down the hall to Claire’s locker.

To her dismay, no one was at Claire’s locker. It was almost unheard of for Claire to leave within twenty or thirty minutes of school ending, and there was always a crowd at her locker. Where was everyone?

And then a new thought struck her, making her knees weak. Was she being singled out for some reason? Had her friends abandoned her because of the Parker thing?

Nausea and fear sent her running for the bathroom, where she desperately tried to catch her breath and recompose. It couldn’t be. Her friends wouldn’t turn against her for that. Parker had acted like nothing was wrong on Monday. He claimed he couldn’t even remember anything after they’d arrived at club. He had even thanked Annabelle for dropping him off at home, which had made her gape in disbelief. But maybe he really did remember. Maybe he had told the others she had ditched him in the parking lot with a split lip and no ride home. But could her friends really be mad at her for leaving him there? They all knew what he was like when he was drunk. She had just been trying to protect herself and Erin. They couldn’t really be mad about it—could they?

When she finally made her way out of the bathroom, the hallway was deserted except for a couple of students making their way to the parking lot. She sighed, closing her eyes against tears, and started to the parking lot herself, hoping to find one of her friends out there.

She rounded the corner and almost collided with someone, stepping back at the last moment. “Sorry,” she apologized quickly. This was not her day. This was really not her day. Why, when everything had been going so well, was everything starting to fall apart?

There was a moment of silence. She lifted her head, startled to find herself looking up into Will’s dark eyes. “Hi,” she breathed. “What are you still doing here?” Will, of all people, was the last person she expected to still see at school. He and his friends were usually out the second the last bell rang, if not sooner.

“Mrs. Littey wanted to talk to me,” he said, naming the sophomore English teacher. “What’s wrong?”

She started to tell him nothing with her fake, practiced smile, but it suddenly broke apart, and there, in the middle of the school hallway, she burst into tears.

He hugged her gently, holding her close, his embrace comforting. From the safety of his arms, she blurted out the whole story, even telling him that people were warning her that Ebony was only being nice to her because she wanted revenge, and that Will might be involved and she didn’t even know if she could trust him for sure. “And I can’t tell Trevor,” she finished with a shaky sob. “He’s already worried enough about me, and he’s got the homecoming game coming up. I don’t want to waste his time on stupid things like this.”

Will moved so that just one arm was wrapped around her shoulders. “Come on,” he said, gently pulling her to the double doors. She let him lead her outside to the empty parking lot, where his lone black convertible sat in the front row with its top down. He took her bag and set it in the back before opening the passenger door. She all-but fell in, trying to wipe away her tears and smeared makeup with her fingertips.

Will slid into the driver’s seat, but paused before putting the key in the ignition. “Are you sure you want to come with me?” he asked. She lifted her eyes to his, not sure she had heard him correctly. At her look, he went on. “You said yourself that you’re not sure you can trust me. I could be taking you to a warehouse for my friends to chop off all your hair and give you tattoos you don’t want.”

She felt her blood run cold. “Are you going to?” she asked, her voice catching in her throat.

He arched an eyebrow. “I might. It’s your last chance to get out before I start driving you to your fate, though.”

Her heart drummed against her ribs as they stared at each other. She thought back to all of the nice things Will had done for her, and wondered if it could all be part of some elaborate scheme to gain her trust for revenge. If it was, she was sure Trevor and his mother would kill him. But more importantly, she just couldn’t bring herself to believe that Will would be so cruel.

She leaned back in the seat. “I guess we’ll find out,” she said softly, pulling down the visor to look at herself in the mirror. If she was going to be tortured, she at least wanted to go in with her head held high, and that meant without runny mascara.

Will didn’t say a word as he stuck the key in the ignition and pulled out of the parking spot. The cool wind felt good against her flushed cheeks, and she closed her eyes as he drove, resting her head against the headrest. The music, loud enough to be heard over the wind, but not so obnoxiously loud she felt bad for disturbing the people around them, drifted through the speakers and further calmed her frazzled nerves.

She roused herself from the half-sleep when Will killed the engine, embarrassed she had dozed off. She sat up quickly, then blinked as she looked around the car, stunned at her surroundings. They were in the middle of a flat dirt field, an old, weathered barn to the right of the car. About two hundred yards ahead of them spanned a forest that was as wide as she could see. Bewildered, she looked over and met Will’s eyes.

“Where are we?” she asked, confused.

He grinned. “Torture chamber,” he told her, a devilish light in his eyes. She watched as he pulled the key from the ignition and lifted himself out of the car, over the door. “Come on,” he insisted.

She studied the flat dirt surface and large barn warily, but did as she was told, slowly climbing out of the car.

“Leave it,” he told her, seeing her purse in her hand. “You won’t need it, and no one’s going to come here.”

She felt a smile creep up on her lips, despite her nervousness. “Another secret spot?” she asked.

His response was to lightly push her toward the barn. It was large and dark brown, and though old, it looked as if it was well maintained. She watched as he stuck a small key from his key ring into a hanging lock, then hooked the lock through the bolt. He gave the left door a push and it fell open, a rush of cool, dry air with a hint of mustiness enveloping them. He pushed the other door open, which clattered against the side of the barn.

She peered in hesitantly as he strode in. It was dark on the inside, but she could see some cabinets to one wall, a set of standing shelves about eight feet high near them. In the corner was an old couch, a few blankets tossed onto the back of it. Beside it sat a footlocker, and in front, a small coffee table. Along the right side of the wall were long tables of tools. In the middle of the barn, where Will was currently, were two ATVs.

She watched as he wheeled one of them out, looking up at her with dancing, mischievous eyes. Her heart raced in her chest. “Get on,” he instructed.

She stared at him blankly. “You’re going to kill me in an ATV collision?” she asked. “That’s my punishment for something I didn’t do?”

He laughed. “You’re the one who came with me without asking where we were going,” he reminded.

A cold sweat formed on her body as she eyed the large, hulking machine. All it was missing was the crossbar and it could have been a jeep, except it was longer, like a motorcycle. “I assumed we were going to go home,” she said slowly, eyeing the pedals and handle bars. He didn’t really expect her to drive this, did he? “Not to uncertain death.”

“There’s nothing uncertain about it,” he corrected, releasing the handlebars. She watched in confusion as he started unbuttoning his long-sleeved black shirt, revealing a black t-shirt as he joined her on her side of the ATV. “It’s going to be an ATV crash. You said it yourself.” She cried out as she was suddenly in his arms, and then she was on the ATV, his shirt on her lap. She tucked it hastily around her legs, a little surprised at his consideration.

He leaned over her and began pointing out buttons and levers on the vehicle. After five minutes of explanation, she still had no idea what he had just said, though she really had tried to pay attention. Something about an electric start and a choke? It was as confusing as driving a stick shift—maybe worse.

“Got it?” he asked.

Annabelle looked up at him blankly. “I didn’t rat out your friends,” she said, in a last-ditch effort for self-preservation.

He rolled his eyes. “Okay. Just watch.” A moment later, he was sliding onto the ATV in front of her, forcing her back on the seat. She watched as he pushed on something she vaguely recalled him calling the throttle. He released another lever, and they were off.

She screeched and wrapped her arms around his waist as they went flying through the dirt, which kicked up all around them. She could hear him laughing over the engine, and then they were being thrown to the side as the ATV spun in circles before smoothing out into large figure eights. Slowly, as the movements started to feel a little more comfortable, she pulled her head out of his back and dared to look around.

The world around them was a blur, but it was so close… so incredibly close. It was dizzying and terrifying to think that if she just put out her leg she could touch the ground, but it was also strangely exhilarating.

The excitement bubbled up inside of her, and she laughed, feeling the adrenaline pump through her. She’d never felt anything so… amazing.

In response, the ATV sped up. She squealed, clutching tighter onto his waist. She could feel him laugh, even as he stopped turning the machine and instead headed for the forest. Her heart pounded in her chest as she prayed that he knew where he was going—and that they wouldn’t crash into a tree, since they weren’t wearing any safety gear to speak of.

He seemed to, though, and for a long time they drove around on the slightly bumpy terrain, until her sides hurt from laughing and her mouth ached from grinning. When he finally pulled back up in front of the barn, she felt cold and hot at the same time, bursting with energy. He lifted himself up off the ATV and she was surprised to find she was disappointed at the sudden loss of contact. For so long they had seemed to meld together as they rode… Letting go felt strange.

He held out a hand to her to help her off, and she took it, lifting his shirt up from her lap as she stepped down. She laughed at the sight of her legs—her thighs were totally clean and smooth, and from her knees down were completely covered in dirt and mud.

“We’re filthy,” she declared, laughing and shaking her hair. She groaned at the leaf she felt stuck there and slowly pulled it out, holding it up for him to see.

He laughed, taking it from her and tossing it on the ground. “Yup,” he agreed, stepping toward her. She groaned and flushed with embarrassment when his fingers pulled bits of grass from her hair, but couldn’t help laughing when she spotted some in his hair, pulling it out of the silky strands.

And even though she was a complete mess no one would ever be envious at the sight of, as she and Will stood there laughing and pulling bits of grass and leaves from each other’s hair, Annabelle had never been happier.



***



“Ebony’s not fake,” Will said suddenly, as he pulled up to the street in front of their houses. Startled, Annabelle looked over at him, even as he put the car into park. He met her eyes with a deep, thoughtful look. “She wouldn’t have been nice to you if she didn’t want to be. So what your friends and everyone else is saying… I’d just ignore it if I were you.”

She unbuckled her seat belt as she leaned over and threw her arms around his neck, relief flooding her eyes with tears. “Thank you,” she whispered, feeling his gentle, warm hands rest lightly on her back. She leaned back to look him in the eyes and felt herself smile despite the tears in her eyes, gratitude for him almost overwhelming her to the point of sobs. His expression was calm, his dark eyes on hers strong. She squeezed his shoulders to emphasize her appreciation, and then sat back in her seat, pulling on the door handle to let herself out of the car.

He emerged from the car with her backpack, which he handed to her on the sidewalk between their houses. She was surprised at the desire she had to ask him to come in, but they were both dirty and needed showers, and besides that, Trevor would be home any minute and she needed to get cleaned up before he came over.

She set her backpack on her floor by her desk, pausing as she realized she still had something in her hand. She looked down at the piece of fabric in her fist, laughing as she realized she had once again made off with one of Will’s shirts.

She tossed it on the bed, shaking her head at herself. He was going to have to come to school shirtless pretty soon if he kept giving her his shirts and she kept not returning them.

The thought amused her all the way to the bathroom, and as she showered the dirt from herself, she couldn’t help but smile. The day had seemed so good, then beyond terrible, and then Will had somehow managed to turn it all around again. He was really a good friend.

As she brushed out her wet hair in her room, she paused thoughtfully. When had she and Will become friends, anyway? Up until recently, their only contact had been the occasional greeting when they saw each other around their houses or at school. But other than that, she and Will had never spent any time together. And now she looked forward to each time she saw him.

It was funny how friendships formed, Annabelle mused, reapplying her makeup as she stared at herself in her vanity. Who would have thought having the cops called on Ebony and her friends because someone had… accidentally… laced her drink would have led to her and Ebony being able to start a conversation in the hallway? And now Annabelle was going to loan Ebony her skirt.

She smiled at herself in the mirror, happy with the reflection that looked back at her.

She gathered up her clothes and Will’s shirt and tossed them into the washer, walking out of the laundry room just in time to hear the knock on the front door.

Trevor.

Pleased, Annabelle hurried to the door, pulling it open to reveal her boyfriend. He was freshly showered and handsome in a white button-down, jeans, and sneakers.

“Hi,” she greeted happily.

He grinned broadly. “Hi yourself. Your nap must have rejuvenated you. You look much happier than you did earlier today.”

Oh… Right. She had told him that she was going to go home and take a nap. She’d forgotten all about it.

She sucked in a deep breath, accepting his kiss on the cheek as she prepared herself to tell him about her afternoon with Will. “I had a good afternoon,” she started. She knew that talking about Will always put him in a bad mood, but maybe if she told him about Will’s good points, he would start to understand his younger brother a little better.

“Yeah?” he asked, looking pleased. “So did I. Coach is working us insanely hard, but it’s really paying off. We’re definitely getting better. We’re going to slaughter Lincoln at Homecoming.”

She felt all of her ambition deflate. She forced a smile. “That’s great!” she assured him, her enthusiasm sounding a little hollow in her own ears. “I know you’re going to be incredible.”

He flashed a warm grin at her. “How could I not be? I’ve got the most beautiful girl in the school cheering for me.”

Her knees went a little weak at the compliment, and she felt guilty for not being more excited about his game. Football was really important to Trevor, and as his girlfriend, it was her duty to support him.

“I’ll be cheering louder than anyone,” she promised, squeezing his hand.

He grinned again. “Speaking of Homecoming,” he began, “what color flowers do you want?”

Trevor was so thoughtful. Annabelle didn’t know of any other guys who thought to ask their girlfriends about what color of flowers to get them. Delighted, she squeezed his hand again. “White,” she told him, “to go with my dress.”

“You’re wearing a white dress?”

She considered. “It’s black and white,” she corrected, thinking of the lovely dress upstairs in her closet.

He smiled. “Well I’m sure you’ll be beautiful. And white it is.”

She smiled back, and then settled under his arm to watch television.