Kyle was standing over by a huge tree laughing.
“We told you girls never to take your masks off,” he said. “You should have listened. Ain’t no amount of makeup going to cover that shiner up.”
Milah Jo flipped him off.
“Shut up, freak,” she said. “Can’t you see she’s hurt?”
Wow! He’d really done something to piss her off in the short time we’d been apart. She wasn’t gushing over him at all anymore.
Landon shot Kyle a dirty look.
“Come on, Jane, let me help you up,” Landon said. “We need to get some ice on that eye.”
As I stood up, I got another look at his pink-splattered jacket.
“Landon, I’m so sorry,” I said. “I had no idea I was shooting you. I couldn’t see. Are you all right?”
Landon put his arm around me to help me walk to the car.
“It’s my fault, Jane. I should have told you to put the mask on when we got settled by the brush pile. I was so busy admiring your pretty face that I didn’t want you to cover it up. It was very selfish of me, and for that I’m sorry.”
It made me nervous to hear him talk about me like that. So instead of thanking him for the compliment, I started stomping through the woods back toward the car.
“I can tell you one thing, Landon Whitman,” I said. “I don’t want to play paintball with you anymore.”
I smiled at him to let him know I was okay. He returned the smile.
“That’s quite all right, Jane Michaels, because I believe I have a few bruises that tell me I don’t want to play paintball with you anymore either.”
We both started laughing. I didn’t laugh long, though, because it sure did hurt my eye to move any muscle in my face.
Milah Jo decided to catch a ride back with Landon and me. Evidently Kyle wasn’t all she thought he would be. Kyle didn’t seem too heartbroken. He’d decided to hang out at Landon’s uncle’s house. I would say he’d only agreed to pick up Milah Jo and play today as a favor to Landon anyway.
We weren’t on the road for five minutes when Milah Jo chimed in with her cheery voice.
“So, guys, since this bombed, I think we should have a do-over. What do you all want to do tonight?”
Landon smiled at her in the rear-view mirror.
“Milah Jo, it took some convincing to get Jane to do this with us today,” he said. “Do you think we could get her out of the house twice in one day?”
I smiled out the window. On my eye, I was holding the makeshift ice pack Landon had made for me. I loved it when people talked about you as if you weren’t there.
“You know I’m sitting right here, guys. Maybe you should ask Jane?”
Landon started laughing.
“There’s a party out at the old Newman houses tonight if you girls would want to go,” he said.
The idea of doing something that night sounded cool, but I didn’t know if I would be up for going to a party where a bunch of his friends would be.
“I’m not real big on social events,” I said. “I don’t know about that one. I’m not exactly a favorite among your friends, remember?”
Milah Jo came out of her seat belt and plopped her head in between the two front seats.
“Come on, Jane, it’ll be fun. Me and Landon will be by your side the whole time.”
I frowned. “I don’t know if Mother is going to let me back out of the house after she sees this shiner.”
“Well, come to my house then,” Milah Jo said. “You can get ready there. Then you won’t have to explain it to her until tomorrow, hon. You’re so tiny. I bet my little sister has something you can wear.”
Landon put his hand on my leg.
“Sounds good to me,” he said. “Do you want to?”
Oh my gosh—he was doing it again. He made me so freaking nervous! I let out a heavy sigh and agreed to go to the party.
Great—I was going to a party. There were going to be a bunch of people there I didn’t even like and I was going to have to prance around with this huge shiner. Nice.
“I guess so,” I said. “What are you people doing to me? Believe it or not, I used to be pretty good at saying no.”
Great! It’s party time
Landon dropped us off at Milah Jo’s house, and I called Mother to ask her if I could spend the night. Mother was so happy I was staying with a friend that she didn’t even ask about our paintball adventure. Milah Jo’s grandparents’ house was old but very cozy. It was warm and inviting. The house was clean, but you could definitely tell a lot of people lived there. Seven people lived in that three-bedroom house. Milah Jo and her sister shared a bedroom with their mom. That probably would have been pretty awkward in any other family, but not this one. The three of them had late-night discussions in their room almost every night. I think Milah Jo’s mom was more of a friend than a mother. Milah Jo was allowed to do pretty much whatever she wanted.
Milah Jo’s Maw and Paw seemed really nice. When we arrived, Maw was in the kitchen cooking something that smelled very good and Paw was in the barn working on an old tractor. Milah Jo made sure she took me out there to meet him. He was friendly but was totally focused on what he was working on. Milah Jo’s sister was two years younger than Milah Jo. She was built somewhat like me, but would she have anything I would be comfortable wearing? She dressed a little more revealing than I did. I couldn’t very well go to a party in my muddy, leaf-covered clothes, though.
Milah Jo also had two younger brothers who were maybe eight and ten. They were cute, but I couldn’t understand a word those boys said. They had quite the Southern drawl!
Of course, everyone asked me about my eye. Milah Jo just giggled and told everyone she was a much better shot than she’d imagined she would be. Seemed she wasn’t feeling too bad about it anymore. I didn’t think it was very funny, considering my eye was still throbbing and she hadn’t even been aiming at me. Milah Jo’s Maw offered me a piece of steak to put on my eye. I tried to be very considerate when I declined.
The day went pretty quickly at Milah Jo’s. It took us forever to figure out what we were going to wear to the party. Milah Jo finally decided what I was wearing and told me I had no choice and to suck it up. The outfit was a little bolder than anything I would normally wear. Thank goodness I had my jacket to hide beneath. Milah Jo’s Maw fed us one of the best suppers I’d ever had in my life. I savored every minute of it until I found out I’d been eating Bambi’s poor mother. How awful! I’m not a vegetarian, but for some reason I’d always had a real problem with eating a deer. A pig or a cow I could eat; they’re fat and sloppy. They were definitely created to be eaten. A deer, on the other hand, is dainty and graceful. They have a beauty about them and I just couldn’t bring myself to intentionally eat one. It didn’t help that, where I came from, not too many people ate deer. But when you got out into the country, they lived on deer. I made sure to let Milah Jo know to warn me next time so I wouldn’t eat the poor little things.
Landon was ten minutes late picking us up. I was feeling a little relieved thinking I wouldn’t have to go to that party until I started thinking that maybe Landon had changed his mind about me. I was sure he’d skipped out on us until he pulled into the driveway. He apologized for being late and told us he’d had to drop his sister off at the car dealership to pick up her new SUV.
The party was hopping. There were people everywhere. It was pretty dark, so people really didn’t notice my black eye, which was definitely a plus. No one at the party went out of their way to talk to me, but at least no one was rude. We found a spot next to the bonfire, and I was glad to sit somewhere warm because I was freezing. Milah Jo decided to mingle, so that left me and Landon there alone. There were other people sitting by the fire, but they were scattered all around.
It was a pretty good night. Landon asked me all kinds of questions about my life before I’
d come to Winchester. He already knew I’d been in foster care, so I told him a few things about being in foster care and being away from Lizzie. But I never told him why I’d been in foster care, just that Mother had made some mistakes. He asked me about my father and why I hadn’t just lived with him. I explained to him that I’d never met my father and that I didn’t even know his name. It sounded like such a sad story, and I couldn’t believe I was spilling it all to him. He put his arm around me and told me he was sorry I’d had to go through all that. Despite the fact that I’d sworn I wouldn’t put myself out there like that, there I was telling Landon things about my life that I didn’t want anyone to know.
We stayed at the party until about midnight. Milah Jo had been quite the social butterfly, and it took us forever to find her so we could head out of there. While we were looking for her, we ran into two guys I’d never seen before. They didn’t seem very friendly and they told Landon they would be sure to catch up with him later. Landon didn’t seem too concerned about them and I didn’t ask any questions.
I had to admit I’d had a pretty good time. Landon was so easy to talk to, and he seemed to hang on my every word. He looked me straight in the eye when he talked to me or when I was talking to him. I had the hardest time looking at him when he looked at me so intently like that. He was so different from me. I realized I was completely falling for him. He was gorgeous, no doubt, but there really was so much more to him that I never would have known had I not given in to him. To sit and talk with him, you would never have guessed he was loaded. He seemed so humble.
When we got back to Milah Jo’s house, Landon shut the car off and asked her if it was okay if he kept me for the rest of the night. He wanted to know if her mom would call my mother and get me in trouble. Milah Jo assured him her mom wouldn’t do that. They almost looked as if they’d already planned this part of the night and their conversation was just for my benefit. I just kept looking at Landon strangely, and he finally asked me if I minded to spend the night with him instead of going with Milah Jo. I made sure to ask him what it was he had in mind for the rest of the night. I told him outright that I was not one of those easy girls who would sleep with a guy on the first date. He assured me that was not his intention and that he would be a perfect gentleman. He also reminded me that I had insisted over and over that this was not a date, so it didn’t matter. I knew better than to agree to it, but once again I couldn’t help myself. I really did want to spend more time with him. So, I agreed.
I wasn’t sure what to expect. We drove for a little while just talking. He kept looking over at me. I didn’t know why he kept doing that. What in the world did he see in me? I was a lot of things, but special I was not. After about an hour of driving around, we ended up on a bumpy little gravel road. My Wrong Turn fears once again kicked in. I never should have watched that movie; I didn’t like scary movies anyway. I thought I knew better. Now, any off-road, wooded area was going to scare the crap right out of me. The road ended and Landon put the car in park.
I frowned at him.
“Landon Whitman, I told you I am not one of those girls,” I said. “You can take me back to Milah Jo’s house now.”
He smiled that amazing smile at me.
“Well, Jane Michaels, just maybe I’m not that kind of guy. There’s an awesome wooded area up the trail just a little. We call it the pines. There are so many pine trees, the ground is completely covered with pine needles. There’s a pond that’s right up against it. It’s beautiful. The moon is full tonight so I figured we’d be able to see it pretty well. I thought I would show you something you could appreciate and prove to you it’s not just cow country out here, City Girl.”
I couldn’t help but smile at him. I had to admit I liked it when he called me “City Girl.”
“It sounds really nice, but don’t you think it’s kind of cold out?” I countered. “I’m sure you can’t start a fire in the middle of all those pine needles.”
Of course he smiled at me again.
“Well, we could if we wanted to start a massive forest fire,” he said. “I have some blankets in the boot of the car. We can use those to sit on, but this is one of those rare nights when the temperature goes up. It’s already ten degrees warmer than what it was when we were at the party.”
He pointed up at the thermometer.
“See, it’s sixty degrees outside. That’s not cold.”
I never watched the news; I’d had no idea it was supposed to get warmer. I’d thought it always got colder at night. We gathered the stuff out of the car and headed toward the pine trees. I could see them now. Landon spread out the blanket, sat down, and patted the spot next to him. I sat down and looked out over the pond. The moonlight was beautiful reflecting off the pond. I’d never seen anything like it before. The smell of the night air and the pine trees was so crisp and refreshing. The pine needles actually made a pretty good cushion to sit on and the pine trees felt like they offered protection from the rest of the world. I’d never felt as much peace as I did sitting there next to Landon in the midst of all that beauty and protection. It was amazing.
In that moment, I felt that Landon really did understand me. We talked through the night, and he really was the perfect gentleman. He never once tried to kiss me. It seemed as if the night hadn’t lasted long enough before it was time to leave. We’d been together for almost twenty-four hours, yet it didn’t seem like it had been nearly enough. Yep, I was definitely falling for this boy. How had this happened? I could have sworn I’d had my guard up the whole time.
More stormy weather
Landon dropped me off at Milah Jo’s a little after seven on Sunday morning, and Milah Jo’s grandpa took me home around eight. Milah Jo was still sleeping, so I just left her a note to call me later. I ate breakfast with Lizzie and ignored Mother, then headed off to bed. I needed some sleep. I didn’t get it, though. Every time I would drift off, I would dream of how Landon was going to break my heart or how Mother was going to screw up everything and I would have to leave Landon. It was my subconscious telling me I should get off this road I was going down before it was too late. I decided that as much as I liked Landon, I couldn’t take the risk. I had to end it before it even really got started. That was the only way. It had to be done and it had to be soon.
I decided I would just ignore Landon until he realized there was nothing between us. He sat with Milah Jo and me at lunch and I didn’t even acknowledge he was there. It was so hard. Milah Jo kept asking me why I was being so rude to him. I just told her I didn’t want to be involved with anyone. Landon quit sitting with us after a few days. It was awful. As much as it had irritated me that he wouldn’t get the hint those first few days, it hurt that he’d given up. I felt like such a nut job. I knew I couldn’t have it both ways. Milah Jo didn’t give up, though. She had something to say every day about how I must have been insane to push Landon away like that.
After two weeks of me ignoring Landon, he caught up with me when I got off the bus at the end of the lane. I kept walking toward the house, but he stayed right next to me the whole way, asking me what was wrong and telling me how he’d thought we’d really hit it off and that he couldn’t understand why I was being so rude to him again. I finally just stopped and yelled at him that there was nothing there, there never would be, and the other night had been a mistake. He looked at me so strangely. I thought it might have been one of the most heartbreaking looks I’d ever seen. Why would he care that I didn’t want anything to do with him? He hadn’t known me that long. What was the big deal? I took off walking to the house and he just stood there. I didn’t know what he was doing because I never looked back to find out. I couldn’t.
Milah Jo had talked me into going to some kind of carnival that was going on in Winchester. I didn’t want to go, but she wouldn’t leave it alone. She said she’d heard that a really good local rock band, Rootbound, was playing and she thought we should go. She insisted we
go early, though, so we could walk around and get something to eat.
It was the smallest carnival I’d ever seen. There were more people selling stuff out of their yards than there were fair booths. I saw Mrs. Whitman sitting at one of the local church booths. She spotted me and motioned for me to come over. She was sitting with two other ladies who looked to be just as prominent as she was. I couldn’t be rude to Mother’s boss, so I went over to her. She introduced me to the other women as her housemaid’s daughter and made sure to give me a pamphlet about the free store the church had. She told me I might be able to find some nicer clothes and some decent shoes there. She definitely didn’t like me or the way I dressed, but I didn’t understand why a grown woman would get her kicks out of picking on a teenager. She must have, though, because she’d just humiliated me in front of everyone around the booth. It was a good thing I’d decided not to have anything to do with Landon. Mrs. Whitman really would have liked that, I’m sure. I just set the pamphlet down and walked away. As we left, Milah Jo was banging her lips the whole time about how rude “that woman” had been. I then informed her it was Landon’s mother, and she couldn’t believe it. She said there was no way Landon had come from that woman. I just nodded and agreed.
We ate and headed to the area where the concert was supposed to be. It was really crowded, and there was no way we were going to find good seats. It looked like it was standing room only. That was when Milah Jo let me know someone was saving seats for us in the front. I couldn’t figure out who she would have talked into that. I followed her up the aisle and saw Landon sitting front and center. Suddenly I realized they’d planned this together.
Milah Jo hurried herself into the end seat so I would be sandwiched between her and Landon. He looked over at me when I sat down and gave me that one-in-a-million, smug smile of his. I knew right then that I was going to have to leave. I wouldn’t be able to resist him while being that close to him. I turned to Milah Jo and told her I was going to find a ride home. I got up and started pushing my way through the crowd. Once I’d made it past the hair salon on the corner, I realized I didn’t really know anyone who could give me a ride home. I shrugged my shoulders and decided I would just walk home.
Opiate Jane Page 6
