by Jack Parker
I felt a kiss on my cheek and an arm around my waist, pulling me into Camdon's side.
"Hey, man." The kid smiled at him. "Alright, I'll see you around Heidi."
"Bye." I waved, and turned to Camdon, giving him a long kiss.
"Hey love." He whispered into my ear.
I closed me eyes for a moment before opening them to find his staring back at me. I could feel the smile slipping onto my lips.
"So…? How's Prom going to be this year?" I asked.
He let out a frustrated sigh, throwing his backpack into the back seat of his truck. I ran my hand through his hair because I knew it always made him feel better.
"Its undetermined." The aggravation clearly coming through his voice. "I don't understand how hard it is to pick a name to go with our theme. I mean, we need to start making posters soon, and ordering the tickets, we can't hold off from this for much longer."
I squeezed his hand reassuringly. "It will be fine. Tell them they need to have a list of five possible names by Monday the latest, and choose the best one. That way they feel like they have to do it, and you can just order the tickets Monday after school."
"That's a good idea. See," He grinned, "That's why I keep you around."
I laughed. "Oh, right. Well it's a good thing you do, I basically run the whole student body for you."
He teased me the whole way, home, about my 'sas' and 'attitude'. "Hey. Maybe you should drive the truck home, you basically do everything else for me." Or "Can you find a radio station? You basically control my music choice for me." He did that the whole ride home, and I was trying to keep a straight face, until I couldn't help it and started laughing.
"OKAY ALREADY! I get it." I huffed. He was looking pretty proud of himself when he turned down our street. I looked at my house and my smile instantly disappeared.
Camdon said something but I didn't hear him. I felt like I had started to fall, and was in that moment, where you haven't hit the ground yet, but there's no chance you'll ever recover your balance.
Dread.
It flooded my body, because as soon as I saw him standing in my driveway, I knew my time had ended. I was almost brought to tears, but I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked at Camdon.
"Heidi?" His whole face was full of concern, his beautiful eyes searching my face with questions. "Heidi what's wrong?" He held my face in his hands, "You don't look so good." When I didn't answer, he tried again, "Come on, talk to me."
I blinked a couple times and regained what I could of my composure. I looked back at Detective O'Connor. Camdon followed my gaze. "Whose that?"
I didn't know what to tell him, because all I could even think about was how much I missed him already.
"Um…." I croaked out, my voice thick. "It's an old friend of Anna's."
"So what is he doing here?"
I shook my head and shrugged, "I don't know." It came out softly. I turned back to Camdon, who was still watching me. I cupped his face in my hands and kissed him right on the lips. Our mouths moved together perfectly, as they always have, and I concentrated on the feeling of the softness of his lips before I pulled away slowly.
"I have to go." I slid out of his car, and steadied myself as I walked towards my house, Detective O'Connor finally looking up and noticing my presence.
"Wait!" Camdon put his car in park and ran around the side to stand in front of me, blocking my view of the handsome detective. "What was that about?"
"Nothing." I closed my eyes; it hurt to much to look at him, because I knew what was coming.
"Look at me." He said softly, but I shook my head.
"I can't." My voice broke. "I'll call you." With that, I swiftly moved past him and practically ran to the detective, halting abruptly in front of him.
I held my breath, and his gaze. His eyes shifted behind me, trying to assess the situation between Camdon and I, but I had waited too long for this.
"Patrick." My voice came out strong, almost protective, I had grown accustomed to Anna's first name basis, and it worked, his eyes snapping back to my face.
"We should talk inside." He walked to the door, holding it open for me; I looked back one more time, at Camdon before he sped away. It suddenly became harder and harder to breathe, and I forced myself to think of anything but leaving him.
Stepping through the door, something seemed to change inside of me. Just for a couple moments, I needed to stay strong. In no way was I going to break, not yet. I pushed the feelings of wanting to cry back, choosing to focus on Anna instead.
She and the detective sat in front of me, watching me closely, assessing me. I was still wary about Patrick, I had always liked him, but I didn't like the way he had looked at Camdon, and I knew he was working something through in his mind, something that wasn't going to be in our favor. I saw Anna, who, I could tell was crossed between surprise and relief. She was beautiful, as always, and this did not go unnoticed by Patrick, who, when we first walked in, couldn't leave her side.
He did not look well. He was thinner, his face gaunt, the stress of the case and, I assumed, being so far away from Anna, had really taken its toll on him. He had hardened, but I know the caring detective was still under there.
I wonder how their reunion was, because they already seemed well acquainted when Patrick and I had first walked in.
I was silent, waiting. My feelings were anxious; I wanted to know what would happen to me already.
"I flew in first thing this morning." Patrick cleared his throat, opening the conversation up.
"Where's Kaiser?" I hadn't seen that old man in ages.
"He's back at the station, we need everyman we can get. Which is why I can only be here for a little while. I'm leaving tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" I raised an eyebrow, "That's awfully early."
"Yesterday night, we intercepted the trucks, and arrested Mickey." He let the statement hang in the air.
What was I supposed to feel? Relief? Gratitude? Was it wrong that I felt sad? Not yet. I didn't want to leave yet.
"Heidi." I looked up at Anna, the only person who knew. I could tell by the look on her face that she knew.
Detective O'Connor reached his hand out, and patted mine. "You get to go home." He whispered happily, as if he was delivering the greatest news in the world. "You can see your parents again, all your friends, go back to school."
I felt sick, go back to school? To what? I didn't know those people. Not like I knew my friends here. No, those people weren't my friends, that school wasn't my school. And my parents, sure, I wanted to see them. But what would that be like?
"You've done such a great job here." My detective friend went on, "I'm really proud of you. After your testimony, this will all be over, and everything will go back to normal. You've been through a lot, but you have really pulled through. You should be proud of yourself."
I looked up at the pretty face of the detective. Patrick O'Connor. What an Irishman. His dark hair and light eyes held true joy, the weariness that dragged on his whole body seemed to lighten slightly, as if just being able to say that they had finally done it, finally captured Mickey, was a weight being lifted from his shoulders.
"I know that this is a lot to take in," He continued to speak in response to my silence, "But we can talk about the trial once you get home. I'm sorry that we have to rush you like this, but me and Anna will help you pack, and we can get everything done in no time…"
I frowned. "Wait. Am I leaving with you?"
He blinked. "Of course. We will have security with us at the airport, just for extra protection. Anna is coming with, as she as done a great job keeping you safe."
Anna wasn't speaking, she just gave me a look of sorrow.
Patrick blabbed on and on about preparations for tomorrow, where I would meet my parents, that they were notified I was safe, my protection once we got back to Phoenix, but I just sat there stunned.
I had one night. One night left until I was gone. What about Dylan and Marcus? What do I tell the
m? What about Camdon? One night left. I couldn't bare the thought of this.
"What do I tell my friends?" I asked, my eyes had glazed over, as I stared off into space, thinking about how I could tell Camdon I was leaving.
"You can't tell them about the case. It must be kept completely confidential, when the trial is over, then you can contact them again." He gave me a serious stare. "Heidi. If you tell them, and for some reason someone finds out, their lives could be endanger. If you really love them, you'd keep them in the dark about this."
I just sat there, letting his words sink in. No way. I shook my head. I needed to get as far away from them as possible.
Anna, the beloved soul she was put a hand on Patrick to quiet him, "You should go say goodbye to your friends. I'll pack; don't worry about it. Or curfew. Just get home."
Patrick looked at us questioningly, noticing our exchange, but not knowing what she was talking about.
I got up silently, and walked past the two sitting figures outside the door. First thing I did was pay Dylan a surprise visit. The walk was a good way to clear my head. The minute he opened up the front door I burst into tears. Dylan was always the more sensitive of the two, I think it had something to do with him having sisters. He immediately pulled me into a hug until I calmed down and I told him that I was leaving tomorrow.
"What?" He looked at me in disbelief. "You're joking. Tomorrow?"
I nodded, tears still running down my cheeks. I hiccupped. "I don't know what to tell you." It was true. I couldn't lie to him, so I just worked my way around talking about my parents coming back.
"Can't you stay for the rest of the year?" He asked a little weakly. "We…we were having a really good time." Dylan finished lamely, the sadness coming from his voice.
"I want to. I want to stay so badly. But I have to take care of some things in Phoenix."
"Like what?" Dylan asked.
I just looked at him pitifully. He seemed to know that I didn't want to talk about it, and I realized why I couldn't help but become friends with him and Marcus. Dylan called Marcus, and he explained to him what I couldn't, and they let me cry.
"Have you told Camdon yet?" Marcus handed me glass of water.
I started to cry harder.
"I'll take that as a no." He exchanged a worried glance with Dylan. "Well, what are you doing here?"
"Wh-what?" I asked, my eyes were such a red puffy mess I had to rub them to see him clearly.
"Look, if you think that you're just going to go back to some desert and forget about us, then your delusional. I know, and Dylan knows, that we will be calling you and filling you in on all the boring events of this stupid town. Daily. And you can count on that. Plus, I hear a bunch of the girls are getting their belly button pierced, so I'll have to tell you about all my hookups. And Dylan will probably need some girl advice, as I won't have the time, because they throw themselves at me so willingly."
"I think what Marcus is trying to say, is that your one of our best friends. And it's going to stay that way. You need to go spend your time with Camdon. We get it." Dylan gave me a comforting hug, "Go. Seriously."
"I love you guys." I sniffled.
"I'm visiting, if all the snow isn't gone by next week." Marcus added in.
I smiled, despite my sadness. Seeing these two gave me hope. "Here," I grabbed a pen and paper from inside Dylan's house. "This is my house number, I'll call you guys." I stood still for a moment, before both of them smushed me into one giant hug, and I started crying again.
"Stop crying." Marcus grunted. "You're going to scare the shit out of Camdon. He's going to think you're pregnant or something."
I hit him, and with that, they shoved me onto the street, where I calmed my self down, letting the cool air hit my face.
After I felt like my face was probably somewhere back to normal, I passed by my house quickly, and rushed to Camdon's. Suddenly, all I wanted was to be near him, at least for a little while.
I stood in front of his house, and nervously looked around me, as if I was going to find some type of encouragement. I walked up the sidewalk, and the door opened before I got there.
I expected to see Camdon, but little Ella fluttered out to meet me.
"Hi." She smiled, her voice as soft as ever.
Seeing her little figure again made me want to cry. I used to think kids were some sort of nuisance, until they had reached an actual age of intelligence. And this girl was a little person, with a past and a future all her own. I knelt down so I could be at her height.
"Hi," I whispered back.
"What are you doing here? Its late." She stated simply.
"I have to leave tomorrow."
"Why?"
"I promised some people I'd do some things for them."
"Oh." She said. "Will you come back?" Her brown eyes looked at me.
"I want to. But I don't think so. At least not for a while."
Her little face contorted into a frown, "No, you should come back if you want to."
"I'll try." I waited patiently for her to say something else.
"So are you going to say bye?"
I nodded. "I'm going to miss you."
She gave me a short hug, "Come back soon. I won't talk until you do."
I sighed, "Ella, your family would love to hear you talk, you have such a pretty voice."
She shook her head forcefully, "No." Now she sounded like the child I knew she was. "Not unless you come back. You make things better."
I laughed. But she just shook her head again. "Promise me you'll come back. You make Camdon better."
"I promise." I took her hand and led her back inside her house. "He makes me better too you know. Can you go get him for me?"
She nodded and walked off, her small figure disappearing into the darkness. A couple moments later, I heard a frustrated Camdon speak. "What is it Ella?" He sighed loudly, "I know you can talk, just tell me what I'm doing, I'm tired."
He paused at the foot of the stairs. Ella let go of his hand and walked over to me, pulling on me to bend down. "Make things better." And was off before I could even think of a response.
"She does talk to you!" Camdon exclaimed. "What did she say?"
I took a moment to memorize him, trying to remember how he looked forever, before I had to break the news to him. While right now, everything was perfect to him, as it was to me a couple hours ago. He was wearing sweat pants and a loose shirt, where I could see his lightly defined muscles, and his scruffy brown hair and eyes that could see into my soul. I was going to miss him so much. His kind demeanor, and slight overconfidence, the way he made me laugh, and the way he kisses me whenever he first sees me in the morning. I'm going to miss running with him, and going on walks with him, I'm going to miss his family, but most of all, I think I'll miss being able to talk to him.
I don't know if he'll talk to me after I lied to him so badly. I knew Camdon, and I knew what trust meant to him. He told me about his family, was completely honest with me, but I held back. To him, you can't have a real relationship with someone if you hide who you are. The whole school, his friends, dying to know little details of his life, only for gossip, he would think that I was putting him in that category of people. I could only hope that he understood.
"So…" I began, swallowing my words and starting over. "I have some things to tell you. I was wondering if you would listen."
"Okay…" He gave me strange look. "Is this about that guy at your house today? Because that was kind of weird."
"No. I mean yes… not exactly." I sighed. "It's a long story. Is there a place we can go to talk?"
"Uh, yeah. My room?" He suggested, pointing behind him.
I nodded, suppressing the memories of the last time we were alone in his room together, his parents had gone out and Ella was at a friends. I let out a breath, trying to get the heated memory out of my mind.
I sat down on his bed comfortably, already familiar with the inside of his room. He sat down next to me and took one of my hands i
n his, playing with my fingers absentmindedly.
I hated this. I knew eventually I would have to go back, but I couldn't imagine how I was going to tell him. I owed him the truth, but I didn't know what he would do with it.
"I really like you, you know." I started off saying.
He chuckled in response, "Oh good. I was kind of hoping that that was the case."
"I'm serious!" I couldn't help but smile a little. "Which is the only reason why I'm even considering trying telling you this, even though I shouldn't."
He seemed to notice the shift in my tone and stopped playing with my hands, straightening up a little bit. "Telling me what?"
"That man, that was outside my house today, his name is Patrick. He's a police officer." I said quietly, not really sure how to start this.
"Okay… Heidi, I have to be honest, I don't really know where this is going."
"And so is Anna." I said with finality, holding his gaze.
"I thought that Anna worked at the law firm." He frowned, his brain not putting the pieces together yet.
"No. Not really." I sighed, trying to figure out a way to try this again. "A couple months ago, I saw something that I shouldn't have, it ended up being… important. So I have some information that some people don't want me to share. Patrick-, that detective, was nice enough to keep me safe…By sending me here."
I saw in his face that it clicked a little bit, but he still looked confused. "Do you remember how you were always wondering why there was no family photos around the house? Or how Anna stashes all those guns everywhere?" He nodded slowly, what I was saying slowly beginning to dawn on him, "Anna's here to protect me."
"From what?" Camdon's voice was stiff, and he still had that frown on his face.
"Bad people. Some really, really bad people. But it's okay. Because they found them now."
"Is that what the police officer came to tell you?"
I nodded my head. I could see his eyes searching my face for more answers, "Why are you telling me this?" He knew, I knew he had to know, but I didn't want to say it.
"Because Patrick is taking me back to Phoenix. They need me to testify." My voice was low and quiet.
