by Jack Parker
"Heidi, I'm disappointed in you," My head snapped up, and I gave her a confused look, "I cannot believe your moping around. That conversation wasn't that bad at all."
"Anna!" I shook my head, "He is basically with another girl!"
"He said he loved you. That he was mad at you, and couldn't talk to you right at that moment. It's only been two weeks since you've been back. He just needs a little time that's all." Anna shook her head knowingly, "Give him time to adjust, you just testified, your emotional enough already. You're just a little overwhelmed, that's all."
I stared at her, blinking, "Are you okay?" She asked me, I nodded numbly.
"Anna…" I smiled, "He said he loved me." She rolled her eyes and grabbed the plate in front of me to throw in front of the sink. "He said it! He said he loved me. To me! And I quote 'Actually loved you…' I mean, he was angry, but whatever… ANNA! HE said he loved me!" I started jumping up and down, "CAMDON! CAMDON LOVES ME!" I was so giddy, "I'll give him time, I'll let him call me."
I was practically walking on air in the morning, and bounced outside, in a cute flowery skirt and heels, ready for the next day of trials. Anna came in a pant suit, looking like a man's fantasy, with a low cut blouse capturing even my attention.
I raised my eyebrows at her, "How's Patrick?" I asked suggestively.
She chose to ignore my tone, however, and answered, "He's doing well, really busy lately, so we haven't had much time to talk." I could tell by the air in her voice that she was trying to make it sound like no big deal. But I definitely caught them coming out of a mysteriously empty room all panting and rustled. I'd get it out of Patrick later.
We slid into the police car, and I eagerly talked to the officer driving, "So how long do you think the trial will continue?" I asked.
"A couple months, if we're lucky." He added. Kill joy, I won't talk to you again. I turned to continue to grill Anna on Patrick.
"I bet it's really good to see Patrick again huh?"
She glared at me. "Yes. It's nice to see all of my friends."
"I was just wondering, you know, when you were going to make a move on him, because a guy that good looking does not stay single for long. Especially with that Christina girl, I would get on it soon." I completely made it up, well, not completely, but Patrick was one the phone with his 'friend' one time, named Christina. I don't know why he didn't do this earlier. Nothing springs a girl faster than jealousy. And he was way too in love with Anna to actually get in any type of functional relationship.
She knew I was baiting her, she had too, but it became too much for her, after a minute, she asked, "Whose Christina?"
I rolled my eyes, "Just this girl he's taken out on a couple of dates. She's called a couple times while we were prepping earlier."
"Oh." She said. But it wasn't just any 'Oh', it was a defensive 'Oh', an Oh that starts relationships, you could see Anna wrestle with being irritated, not knowing how to express it on such a sweet pretty face. It was cute.
"What-" Anna began asking me a question but her mouth fell slightly open. I frowned at her, "What's wrong? Is there something on my face? Because I look really good today," I noticed the far away look in her eyes and turned around to see what she was staring at, and I stared out the car window in disbelief.
Chapter 16
I opened the door hesitantly and got out and was immediately rushed on both sides of my body by people and cameras. Microphones were shoved in my face and people kept snapping photos of me, blinding my vision. Finally, a couple people had come and parted the sea of reporters to grab my hand and pull me towards the front of the courthouse.
"Heidi!" A voice shouted too close to my ear, "What does it feel like to put the biggest drug lord behind bars!"
"How are you adjusting to life back in Arizona?", "Where did you go when you went into hiding?", "Do you have an official statement yet?"
"What is all this?" I screamed at Patrick O'Connor, the kind detective that led me through the doors and quickly into the courtroom.
"Did you even watch the news last night?" Patrick asked, I shook my head, "When you get back to Anna's place, make sure you do. Where is she by the way?"
"Right here," I heard her say, on my other side, "That is ridiculous, what's their angle?"
He shrugged, "They keep playing parts of her interview, making her out to seem…"
I glared at him, "Making me seem what?"
"They just are showing all the hardships Mickey has put you through, and then clips of the testimony, making it seem like you have a personal vendetta to put criminals behind bars or something."
I rolled my eyes, "That's so stupid." But I couldn't help but be antsy throughout the rest of the day, until everyone pilled out of a pretty boring day of the trial. The stupidest evidence was shown and explained, and although everything was crucial, it could still be boring. And add onto that the thought that somewhere on TV they were playing my testimony, where I started crying and snapped at the defense lawyer all within the same hour was embarrassing.
Anna could sense my anticipation, and when she got back to the apartment, invited my parents over. I didn't want to leave Anna, but I knew the end of the testimony meant that I would need to move back in with my parents… and school…
I quickly pushed those thoughts out of my mind and clicked on the TV. There was nothing on any of the news channels, and I was pretty disappointed. "I'm not on TV," I whined jokingly, "Those camera's had me all excited."
Anna shook her head; "They get tons of footage of court cases all the time and hardly use them. I wouldn't worry to much about it, maybe they'll have a little clip tomorrow."
"But I thought Patrick said they were showing clips last night?" I looked at Anna but she just shrugged, opening the door to let my parents in.
"This is… nice." My mother gently stepped into the apartment, her eyes sweeping over the area, judgment clear in her eyes.
My Dad, forever her opposite, didn't even look at the room, just came right over and gave me a hug. "We were in the court when you gave your testimony, you did great honey."
"Thanks dad!" I smiled at him, and I stood up to help Anna set the small table for four, "How are you guys doing?"
The distance between my parents and I was apparent, and I know my mom especially didn't like me being with Anna. I'm sure she wanted me home to show off to all her friends, her daughter who just got back from helping the police. Yatta yatta yatta. And I knew it bothered my dad because of the whole 'I'm your parent, she isn't' thing, he had already addressed it several times, and it was starting to become a problem between them.
I finished setting the table, "Did you ever get find that bottle of asian salad dressing we got?" I asked absentmindedly, rummaging through the refrigerator.
Anna let out an annoyed sigh, "No. And I'm so bummed; it looked like such a good kind too. I haven't found it anywhere. Are you sure you put it in the cart?"
"Positive! I put it next to the pack of fresca, remember?" I sat next down to my mom, who was flicking her acrylic nails.
"That's right," She just shook her head, "I have no idea where it could have gone. Its like that one time we got that lamp-"
"And the shade totally went missing." We both started laughing. "That was so weird!"
"I swear it was one of your friends, Marcus probably. He would do something like that." Anna scoffed, jokingly.
"Whose Marcus?" My dad asked, "One of my friends from Iowa." I explained to him. I turned to look at my mother. "That's a really annoying noise. Can you stop that?"
"Heidi." Anna said sternly, I turned back to my mother, and mumbled "Sorry." Both of my parents looked at me strangely, and Anna shifted awkwardly. Whatever.
"When will Heidi be able to move back in?" My mom asked curiously.
Anna's face contorted into a sad smile, "Whenever you guys like, she knows who to call if she feels in danger. Her part of this is over with, so technically, she's all yours."
I instantly choked up, and I saw her d
o the same, it wasn't going to be the same, Anna would be busy with the wrapping up of the trial, I wouldn't get to see her nearly as much…
"But Anna, I don't-" She put a hand over mine and squeezed gently, shaking her head as if to say, Don't have this conversation now, I swallowed my words, and ate the rest of my meal in silence, the permanent shift in mood apparent. My parents left after dinner, excited to have me back and I reluctantly told them we'd make arrangements soon.
Anna stood in awkward silence for several moments before speaking, "You know you can't keep staying here, you're parents would never allow it, and you're going to need to go back to school, you need to get back to some type of normalcy."
"But I like living with you. It's so much easier than living with them." I paused, "I'm gonna miss seeing you all the time."
She pulled me into a hug, which I would only let her do, "I'm going to miss you too," She tightened her grip, "But we're still going to see each other all the time, I promise." She started to get teary eyes and gave me one last squeeze before letting me go. "I'm wiped. Your parents are exhausting to entertain. Girls night tomorrow?"
"Course." I smiled, knowing I was going to need her more than ever, if I was going to be going back to my parents so soon.
* * *
I moped into the kitchen, pouring myself a healthy dose of cinnamon toast crunch and skim milk before plopping down on the seat in front of me. "Its so frickin' early," I mumbled to myself, even though I knew Anna couldn't here me. I was already in a sullen mood, knowing I was going to be leaving Anna soon, it just made everything so final. That it was all coming to an end. I sighed as I thought about my foggy future and continued to mope until I was interrupted by Anna's loud gasp.
Her apartment is so small, I heard her exclamation from the other room before she anxiously called my name. "Heidi… you need to come see this. Quick."
Curiosity gripped me, and I was instantly by her side on the pull out couch, now back to its original form.
"What?" I hissed, staring at the television. Anna was watching to the Today Show, as per usual, and I stared in horror, as the moments of my testimony were played back for me on national television.
Clips instantly began to play, little parts of my testimony, with Matt Louwer voicing over my story, with a tragic, somber, voice.
"And what did they do to you in this ally?" Daniel's figure asked, as he walked slowly towards me, giving me one of his intense stares.
On the TV screen, I did look beautiful, but extremely uncomfortable. "I couldn't tell who was doing what. But one dragged me by one of my arms, and the other kicked me in the stomach. I couldn't breath." My last sentence came out in a whisper, my body visibly shaking. "They began hitting me and hitting me, so I tried to crawl away…" My voice died out.
It phased out to a different clip this time, one where Daniel was especially grilling me, throwing my heart wrenching pain to the jury. "And what was it like, being uprooted, during your school year, Junior year, one of the most important years of high school, and forced to live in a completely different environment, with no contact to your family or any of your friends for months?" and then again, with him asking, "And how did it feel, when you had to leave, again, after you were just getting used to your new home?"
"Not good." I watched my self burst into tears and cover my face in shame. It took a moment, but I pulled my hands away and saw myself stare intently in front of me, into the camera, oddly enough. "I hate this feeling. I never know what's going on, one minute, I can't live in my home because its not safe, because people can find me and hurt me or my family…" I let out a little sob, "Then I fall in love with this town and all the people in it, only to be ripped away, only to have a couple hours notice to say goodbye."
I sat next to Anna, horror seeping through my body. "Oh my God." I murmured, over and over again. "Is it on any other news station?" It was useless to ask, of course it was. I made CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, all the local news stations, and as we flipped to a news station, there was a phony newscaster giving a statement.
"And even with her heartache, her strife, she still finds strength, as shown in her trial, when she defends herself gallantly. Only seventeen, Heidi Van Dauson sets an example-"
"Ugh." Anna clicked back to the Today Show, where I heard my voice, angry and mocking, coming through the speakers. I groaned. "Seriously?"
"No, one could not argue that she saved my life. If they hadn't broken into my home, then I wouldn't have been physically harmed at all, and my life would have no need to be saving. In fact, if anything, Michaela Sullivan put my life in danger. She had Thing 1 and Thing 2 beat the shit out of me, drag me into an ally-"
I snatched the remote from Anna and immediately shut off the TV.
We sat in silence, when the phone rang and we both jumped, "Hello?" I picked it up.
"Hi honey!" My mother's chipper voice rang. I waited for her to continue, she wasn't one to call me much, and I found it too much of a coincidence for the trial to hit mainstream and all the sudden get a call from Mommy Dearest. "Um… so, darling, please don't be upset, but I know how much this trial has taken out of you, and I thought it would be a good idea to tell your story, and there have been so many people calling the house-" I closed my eyes.
"Mom, you didn't," I groaned.
"Just a couple interviews! With the Today Show, and MSNBC, and 60 minutes was interested…" I felt like hanging up on her.
"No." I said.
"But I already told them you would…"
"I don't care. I'm not doing it. Now I have to go, I'm getting stuff ready to go back to school." I lied.
"Heidi, listen to me," My mom's voice complained, but I interrupted her, "No, I really have to go, sorry." I hung up and tossed the phone away from me.
Anna raised her eyebrows, "I don't want to talk about it."
"Are you coming to court today?" She asked.
"I feel like I have to now." I sighed, and shuffled into my room, pulling out a random dress and pumps, leaving my hair and lightly applying make-up, I didn't feel like trying to look good today. My phone rang again, and I picked it up, seeing it was Marcus.
"What the fuck Heidi?" Marcus yelled over the phone.
"Why are you yelling?" I shouted back.
"My mom recognized you on the news and woke my ass up this morning to watch it." He growled.
"Oh."
"Yeah, Oh. Why didn't you say anything?" He asked, sounding a little hurt.
"Because, legally, I wasn't allowed, and if they found me, and found out that anyone knew you guys would have gotten hurt." My voice got louder, getting defensive.
"Okay." There was a slight pause, "That's all I wanted to know."
"Really?" I asked in disbelief, "That's it?"
I could picture him shrugging, "What can I do about it? And obviously, it was a big deal, I saw what you said in court. I'm sorry about what happened to you, by the way."
"Thanks Marucs, that means a lot to me." I whispered to him. Fiddling with the hem of my dress. "Seriously."
"It's cool, just, next time, if something like that happens, know I got your back."
I laughed. "Thanks Marcus. I miss you guys so much. It sucks. I'm cooped up here, because they wanted to make sure I was 'safe', I haven't even gone back to school yet."
"That sucks, you know what you should do? Just finish up the year on online classes or something, because going back is going to be hell. I don't know about your school, but here, all the sudden you have a lot of best friends, if you know what I mean. Don't worry though, I told Clarissa she wasn't allowed to talk to any reporters, and me and Dylan are trying to act like we knew the whole time to chill everyone out."
"Thanks," I breathed a sigh of relief. "That might actually help. I wish my mom felt the same. She kind of has her own agenda, she was scheduling me for interviews and I was like, uh… that's a joke right?"
"Wow…." Marcus whistled, "Don't do interviews unless its for a cool magazine. Like get on the cover of
Time or something, hold on," I could here a door slam, and rustling in the background, "Sorry, some of us still have to go to school." He joked.
I rolled my eyes even though I knew he couldn't see me. "So, have you met up with any of your friends yet?" Marcus asked.
"No." I groaned. "I barely ever get to leave Anna's apartment. I'm not even living with my parents, which is fine by me, because I love Anna, but still. It totally blows. And with my interviews on TV and everything, I'm totally stuck. My friends were great, but I haven't seen them, or talked to them, in forever. Since the beginning of the year, so I don't know how that's going to go down."
"Yeah, they'll probably hate you."
"Way to soften the blow." I muttered.
"Just sayin'" I could here his smile, "Hey Camdon! What's up?" I heard the murmurings of Camdon's voice on the other line and my heart instantly started thudding. "Oh cool, hold on. Alright Heidi, gotta go, stay real, don't let TV get you down. I expect a call later, I'm sure Dylan is freaking. You looked really hot, by the way. Did you see her Camdon?" Marcus laughed, "He's blushing, so I'm taking that as a yes. Oh chill out Kelly. By Heidi, say hi to Anna for me."
