aterovis_bleedinghearts.pm6

aterovis_bleedinghearts.pm6 Page 14

by Arlene Chance

  JOSH ATEROVIS

  what came over me, it was almost like it was someone else speaking and I was just as shocked as he was at what I was saying. But I didn’t feel great; I felt awful for hurting Asher. Why didn’t I just tell him the truth?

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  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  By the end of the day, the whole school knew about Gilly and me. I had guys I hardly knew clapping me on the back and telling me way to go; girls who had never had the time of day for me before waving and smiling at me and calling me by name from across the hall. It was truly bizarre. Like popularity in a box, just add beautiful girlfriend.

  I didn’t run into Asher anymore that day, although I was half hoping I would so I could apologize. I was supposed to be at Gilly’s house for dinner at 5:00 so that gave me a couple hours to kill. I drove home, but Adam wasn’t there. I found a note on the refrigerator saying he was seeing his lawyer and wouldn’t be home before I went to Gilly’s, but he would see me later that night.

  I made myself a light snack and was just sitting down to eat it and work on my homework when the doorbell rang. I got up to answer it. I hated that frosted door. I could never see who was there, just shadows and movements. For a split second panic swept over me as I was reminded of my dream and I almost didn’t open the door, but the moment passed and I did. I immediately wished I hadn’t. There stood Zack and Jesse.

  I froze for just the briefest second but it was long enough; when I tried to slam the door Zack was already 149

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  in motion and managed to shove the door back open.

  “That’s not very hospitable, Killian,” he said, “We’re just here to pay you a quick visit. I promise it won’t be long.”

  I wasn’t about to let them into the house so I stood where I was, feet apart and arms crossed to try and hide their shaking.

  “What do you want?” I demanded. I refused to let them see how scared I was.

  “What kind of game are you playing, Killian?” Zack asked casually as he leaned against the doorjamb.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Don’t play games, faggot,” Jesse entered the conversation for the first time with his usual wit and charm.

  “I don’t know what you are talking about? What games?”

  “What’s going on with Gilly? We know you’re a fag, you told us so yourself. Plus we saw you with Asher,”

  Zack explained patiently.

  “I’m going out with Gilly,” I said simply.

  “We got that much, what we want to know is why.

  Why date Gilly if you’re gay?” Zack said.

  “Maybe I changed my mind,” I almost giggled at the thought but I restrained myself out of fear. I could feel the sweat trickling down my back I was so nervous.

  “You can do that?” Jesse asked in surprise.

  Zack shot him a disgusted look and said, “Look Killian, I don’t know what you are up to, but don’t forget we’re watching you. If you hurt Gilly, we’ll hurt you. Got that?”

  “Yeah, I got it, Zack. You know, you guys are pretty pathetic if you don’t have anything better to do than follow me around all the time and keep tabs on my love life.”

  Zack pulled himself up straight and squared his shoulders. Jesse moved into position behind him and it 150

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  became very evident that my big mouth was about to get me in trouble again. Just as I was about to try and talk myself out of whatever was coming, Adam pulled into the driveway.

  Zack glanced over his shoulder and started backing up.“We’ll talk more later,” he said loudly enough for Adam to hear as he got out of his car.

  “Are we leaving?” Jesse asked. I swear Jesse would be out of his depth in a parking lot puddle.

  “Yeah, we’re done here for now,” Zack told him.

  “Who was that?” Adam asked as they got in their car and pulled off.

  “Zack and Jesse, also known as Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dumber.”

  “What did they want?” he asked sharply.

  “They were trying to figure out what I’m doing with Gilly. I think it really confused them; more than their insignificant intellect can handle.”

  Adam laughed. He put his arm around me and steered me into the house. “That mouth of yours is going to get you in trouble one of these days. I think your lips move before your brain gets done thinking.”

  “It almost just did. I’m glad you got here when you did,” I went on to recount the whole scene with Zack and Jesse.

  “I don’t want you coming home alone anymore,” he said when I was finished. “If I can’t be here I’ll have to figure something out. It’s just not safe. That could have gone so many ways.”

  “But it didn’t,” I said, “I’m okay. I just won’t be so stupid as to open the door before I know who’s there anymore. So what happened with the lawyer? I didn’t think you were supposed to be back this early.”

  “Nice change of subject. It went well. Ilana thinks we have a good chance.. She’s very confident.”

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  “Ilana?”

  “My lawyer, Ilana Constantino. She’s going to go ahead and start the wheels turning on this custody thing.

  She’s going to contact Eve’s lawyer. I told her to expect all hell to break loose when Eve finds out.”

  “What happens if Eve gets ugly?”

  “Oh, it’s not a matter of if, and I guess I’ll just have to get ugly back. This is my kid we’re talking about. I’m not playing around any more. I’m tired of being the nice guy while my kids get hurt.”

  We’d settled in the living room by now. We talked for a while about all the legal ins and outs of the situation and what it would be like to have Kane move in with us. We would be sharing Seth’s old room; Adam said he would get twin beds. Some time later, Adam looked at his watch.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be getting ready for your dinner with Gilly’s family?” he asked me.

  “Getting ready?”

  “Meeting the girlfriend’s family is a big deal, you know,” he was grinning now.

  “Gilly’s not my girlfriend, not really,” I said defen-sively, thinking about Asher and my angry words earlier that day.

  “I know, Killian, I’m just kidding. But you should still make an effort to look nice.”

  “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing now?”

  “Nothing...if you’re going to school. Why don’t you just go change? Doesn’t have to be anything too dressy, just a little less...beachy.”

  I looked down at my T-shirt and faded jeans and realized that maybe he had a point. I ran upstairs and changed into a pair of cargo khakis and a dark green button-up shirt over a white T-shirt. I checked myself out in the mirror and thought I didn’t look half bad.

  My hair was even curlier than usual. I decided not to 152

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  brush it out since I kind of liked the way it looked curly.

  I went back down and presented myself to Adam.

  After getting his approval I decided it was about the right time to head over to Gilly’s house; a little early, but not too much. I hated being last minute.

  I followed the directions Gilly had given me, but I was sure I must have messed up somewhere when I pulled into the drive of the address she’d written down.

  The house was a huge, old plantation manor; it could almost be described as a mansion. After I double-checked the directions and address, I parked the car and walked up to the front door. It opened before I could even knock. Gilly stood there grinning ear to ear.

  “Are you sure you’re ready for this?” she said before I could even say hi.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Think you’re prepared to meet my crazy family?

  They all turned out to meet you.”

  “W-w-what?” I stuttered nervously.

  “Aunt Judy’s in town for a few days, she lives in California, so everybody will be there to see her. I kinda forgot that when I invited you, but Mom said what’s one more mouth?”

/>   “Oh great,” I thought, “I’m walking into a freaking family reunion. Now I have to impress the whole family.” Then it struck me that Asher might be there and I almost headed back to the car, but Gilly had me by the arm and was dragging me in.

  I shouldn’t have worried though; from the moment I stepped through the door it was like being swept up into a whirlwind. People were everywhere, or so it seemed. As I was given a mini-tour of the downstairs of the house, I was introduced to everyone.

  In the living room I met the famous Uncle Rick and Todd, who were both seated on the couch and seemed to be in a deep conversation. Alex, Asher’s dad, was 153

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  talking to Asher’s sister, Bethany, who was home from college for the weekend and had extended her stay to see Judy. Rick was in his mid to late 30s with straight light brown hair that he wore in a stylish short cut brushed to one side. Todd was a year or two older than me with shoulder length blonde hair and the same sky blue eyes that Gilly had. He was the stereotypical surfer boy, tan and built from all the paddling and swimming.

  Alex had graying sandy blonde hair and gray eyes.

  Bethany had the same hair as her mother and Asher, but longer. It came to just past her shoulders and hung in shiny brown ringlets. She was very pretty, with a heart-shaped face and perfect pouty little lips. Asher said she had been doing some modeling where she was going to school and was trying to get into acting. I could picture her on a movie screen. She had that look about her; she carried herself like a star.

  In the rec room, there was Marcus, Asher’s brother, and Jacob (“Call me Jake”) playing Nintendo 64, while Jamie divided his time between watching them and playing with a pile of Star Wars figures on the floor.

  Marcus looked like he was from a different family from Asher and Bethany. He had wavy sandy blonde hair and blue eyes, where both Asher’s and Bethany’s were a steely gray color. He looked more like Jake’s brother than Asher’s. Jake had blonde hair, too, although it was darker than Todd’s and Gilly’s. His eyes were the same shade of blue, though, as everyone in their family’s seemed to be. His hair was longish, but not as long as Todd’s. His look was more skater than surfer, even to his outfit — baggy jeans, wallet chain and layered shirts.

  Jamie was adorable, same white-blonde hair and blue eyes as Gilly. He still maintained a little of his baby fat, not enough to be chubby, but enough to give him that soft baby look.

  Everyone else was in the kitchen putting the finish-154

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  ing touches on dinner. Tom and Janice, Gilly’s parents, were standing over an open oven arguing over who was going to take the ham out. Tom pulled an oven mitt off long enough to shake my hand and Janice took the opportunity to duck under our arms and grab the ham.

  He chased off after her, insisting that she let him carry it while she insisted that she was fine. Tom was slightly overweight with prematurely white hair and glasses.

  Janice looked much younger than he did with her blonde hair cut in a pageboy style. She was built like Gilly, thin and small with delicate, pretty features. Mrs. Davis —

  Deb — was scooping huge mounds of fluffy mashed potatoes into a bowl while Judy, Gilly’s crazy aunt, was cutting a cake. Judy had piles of hair of an unnatural shade of red that towered over her head in a gravity-defying feat of hairdressing magic. She wore an abun-dance of make-up and looked rather like a carnival gypsy in her brightly colored muumuu. Her nails added to the effect; about two inches long and painted bright red, they looked like talons. I suspected they could be considered deadly weapons. When we were introduced, she dropped the knife she was using to slice the cake and swooped in on me for a big hug. It was like being attacked by a giant fluffy bat. It was almost impossible to pinpoint her age; she could have been the oldest or the youngest sibling in the Davis clan.

  There was only one person I hadn’t seen: Asher. I turned to Gilly as we went back to the rec room and asked, “Is Asher here?”

  “No, he said he wasn’t feeling well and wanted to stay home, so they left him,” she explained.

  “Oh,” I breathed a small sigh of relief.

  “Are you guys fighting?”

  “Sort of,” I said and left it at that. Thankfully, Jamie barreled into us at that moment and distracted Gilly from pursuing it further.

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  “Will you play Star Wars with me?” he asked as he wrapped himself around my legs and looked up at me with those big blue eyes. How could I say no to that?

  I sat down in the floor with him and he handed me a Darth Maul figure. “You be him and I’ll be Obi Wan Kenobi,” he told me.

  “Who can I be?” Gilly asked.

  Jamie looked at her with a puzzled expression for a moment before saying, “I don’t have any girls.”

  “What about Princess What’s-her-name?”

  “Amidala, and she was a queen, not a princess. And I didn’t want her.”

  “Why not?” Gilly persisted.

  “Cuz she’s a girl,” Jamie finished decisively, as if that explained everything. Gilly shrugged and moved over to watch Jake and Marcus battle it out on Goldeneye. I heard her mutter something about males and violence, but I couldn’t catch all of it.

  We fought with our figures, making light saber noises and other cool sound effects until we were called to dinner.

  Dinner was another experience entirely, quite unlike any I’d ever had before. It was like one of those families you see on TV or in the movies, like those big Italian families in Mafia stories, except they weren’t Italian and they weren’t Mafia...at least as far as I knew. Everyone talked over each other and food just kept going round and round. I swear it seemed to keep multiplying like some sort of Biblical miracle. While on the surface everyone seemed quite genial and happy, I sensed an undercurrent of unspoken tension, especially with the Sheridans. I didn’t really have time to think about it, though, since questions kept coming at me from every side. I tried to keep up with them, but I’m pretty sure I missed a few. I was very relieved when dessert was served.

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  After dinner, Asher’s family had to leave, but everyone else headed for the living room where they settled down and continued chatting. After a few minutes, Judy excused herself to go smoke. A few minutes later, Gilly asked me if I wanted to take a walk, to which I quickly agreed. It wasn’t that I didn’t like her family; they were just a bit overwhelming.

  We walked around the back yard for a while before finally settling on the back porch on a swing. We talked about nothing for a few minutes before Gilly excused herself to go to the bathroom. She hadn’t even shut the door before Judy appeared from the bushes and sat down beside me on the porch swing. I wondered how long she’d been lurking in the shrubbery.

  “You’re not really Gilly’s boyfriend, are you?”

  “Huh?” I managed.

  “You and Gilly, you aren’t really boyfriend and girlfriend. I can see.”

  “What do you mean you can see?”

  “I see many things. I see that you only love other boys, and since Gilly is not a boy...”

  “How do you know that? How do you know I’m gay?” I hissed. I was getting panicky.

  “Don’t be scared. I don’t judge, I simply see. I see many things most people don’t. It’s not that they can’t see, they just often choose not to.”

  “What else do you see?” I asked hesitantly.

  She reached out and took my hand. “I see you are scared. You have been hurt very much and you have not yet healed. You are in danger; someone wishes you harm. You must find them before they accomplish the task they have set before themselves. Your paths are intertwining; they converge repeatedly. From this point there are many paths you can chose, but there is only one that you will survive. Watch your step carefully.”

  She dropped my hand and stood up. She looked down 157

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  at me for a second, then began to walk away.

  “Wait!” I called after her, “Do you know who it i
s?

  Who’s after me?”

  She paused and turned back to me, her face was lost in the shadows so that her voice seemed to come from nowhere, “You must discover that for yourself. It is your path.” I felt the hairs on my arms stand up, and then she turned and melted into the darkness.

  Gilly came back out as soon as Judy was out of sight, but before she could even sit down her mom called her back inside.

  “I’m sorry, Killian. I’ll be right back, I promise,” and she ducked back inside.

  She hadn’t even been gone for a minute before the door opened again. My mind was still swirling with Judy’s words so it took a moment for me to realize that it wasn’t Gilly, it was her brother Todd. He hadn’t noticed me on the swing as he walked to the rail and leaned against it. I was debating whether or not to make my presence known when he turned around and noticed me. He started a little, then cursed under his breath.

  “Sorry, I didn’t see you there,” he said.

  “S’okay,” I told him.

  “You’re awful quiet,” he said as he came over and sat down beside me. I couldn’t help but think that this was all like a carefully choreographed play or a TV

  sitcom, with everyone coming and going in such a seemingly synchronized way. “So you’re Gilly’s boyfriend now. You’re the guy she’s been after for so long.”

  “I guess,” I laughed nervously, although it had been phrased as a statement and not a question. Good thing I was or some poor guy would be feeling really special right about now. I shifted a little because Todd had sat down closer to me than I was comfortable with. I was feeling a little flushed from his closeness; he was very attractive.

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  “You guys don’t seem to be all that enthusiastic about it,” he commented. He looked at me closely and again I felt vaguely uncomfortable, like he was seeing through me.“What do you mean?” I asked warily.

  “Just that you guys don’t seem to have the body language you usually see with two people who are first going out.”

 

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