Portal - BK 1

by Imogen Rose

  Ariele suddenly looked triumphant, “I know what will help! Photographs!” She got up and rushed up the stairs.

  I looked to Kellan for more information. “Kellan, what about Rupert? Who’s he?”

  Kellan sighed, “Don’t you feel a closeness with him? You and he – you are close.”

  I did, surprisingly and nodded.

  He continued, “I’ve never met a couple as connected as your mom and dad, I mean Rupert.”

  “What does he do, Kellan? Does he work at Ames as well?”

  Kellan looked exasperated, “Shrimp, no, of course not. Close your eyes and try to recall what he does. You must feel it, it’s what connects you two.”

  I closed my eyes; all I could remember was the time on the porch when I’d seen Rupert playing the guitar. I remembered being drawn to the guitar.

  “He plays the guitar. He’s a musician?”

  “And record producer,” Kellan added. “He taught us both to play the guitar and he wanted to teach Ella, but she’s decided that the cello is more her.”

  “Do you know how my mom and Rupert met?”

  “It’s one of their favorite stories. They met at a bar in London years ago, got separated, but found each other again.

  “And Harry is their biological child?” I questioned.

  Kellan nodded, “Harry is great, he’s been a truly great friend to me. I feel like I am betraying him by not sharing this with him. We should call him and get him to come down here.”

  Ariele returned with an armful of albums. Kellan got up and helped her put them down.

  “Well, here are some for starters. Let’s begin with the latest ones first.” She turned the pages to our latest girls’ night out, at the Woogie club in Manhattan. Kellan looked at the photographs carefully.

  “Is that you, Shrimp?” He asked pointing to the dark haired, sassy-looking girl making a face at the camera.

  “Yes, that’s me!”

  “Wow, you do look so different!”

  Ariele laughed, “You can say that again! I barely recognized her at school with this Barbie do.”

  Kellan took his time. He flicked through the pictures, occasionally looking up at me to compare my face to those in the photographs. There were pages of pictures of me playing hockey, receiving trophies, me with Mom and Ella and my dad. No Rupert or Harry in any of the pictures. He finally put the album aside and shrugged his shoulders.

  “I don’t know what to say….”

  “Don’t say anything, Kellan. There’s nothing to say,” said Ariele. “I just wanted you to see the photographs so you don’t think we’ve lost our minds. This is real.”

  “I can see that, Ariele. How did you get here?”

  “I guess, more conventionally than Arizona, on a flight.”

  She summarized what she had told me – that her family was moving here after school ended as her mother had accepted a job offer at Ames. However, they had arrived here eight months earlier than expected.

  “I got on a flight in Newark and ended up in the past,” pronounced Ariele dramatically.

  “That’s what Arizona said too. That she had somehow gone back in time,” he sighed.

  As Ariele was talking to Kellan I remembered what Simla had said to me in the restroom and interrupted them.

  “Simla told me that she ‘knew all about our family’ before she got me by my throat. So I am guessing that she knows something about this situation too. It would be nice to be able to talk to her, but she seems to hate me. Does she hate you too, Kellan?”

  “I guess she does so now, after what happened with Justin. I don’t really know her. You’re not friends with her. You, Ali and Maria seem to treat her as an annoyance. She and Justin have been friends for years. I don’t think they’re dating. Both Justin’s dad and Simla’s mom work at Ames. They are the nicest people and they seem very close,” said Kellan.

  We definitely needed to look into our parent’s work. And I had to figure out what Simla meant.

  “I’m guessing that Simla and Justin are going to give me a hard time at school on Monday.”

  Kellan growled, “No they won’t, they wouldn’t dare!”

  “They’ll try,” said Ariele levelly.

  “Best to be prepared. Be Arizona Stevens. Take her out. I’ll support you, although I did just get a manicure, so I’d prefer it if you flatten her.” Ariele said firmly.

  I could hear Kellan protesting exasperatedly. I put my hand on his arm, squeezed it and whispered, “Just kidding!”

  Ariele rolled her eyes, “Seriously, Arizona. You need to draw upon your Stevens’ strengths to better protect yourself. Darley is a wimp. Are you trying out Monday?”

  Kellan shook his head and said, “No, she isn’t.”

  I was furious. Ariele was right. Darley may be the darling here but Stevens was the one to protect her. “Yes, I am! Kellan, I’ll be ready. I’ve got one more whole day to recover. My neck will be fine and I am trying out. I already missed Friday, I can’t possibly miss another one.”

  Ariele looked over to Kellan and said, “Kellan, this is Stevens! If you want to date her you’re going to have to learn to deal with her. She is amazing in so many ways and hockey is an integral part of her. You can’t squash that. You’ll lose her.”

  “What’s the point, Arizona, if you are just planning to head back to New Jersey anyway?” Kellan asked ignoring Ariele.

  “I plan to… but I don’t know how or how long it will take. If I even can. I have to play in the meantime.”

  “And what about us? You’ll be mine in the meantime?”

  Ariele looked frustrated, “This is very cute and all but you’re going to make me hurl. Stop with the gooey talk, Arizona. It’s not you.”

  I absorbed her words, it’s not you. It wasn’t. It was Barbie Arizona. We were the same girl somehow morphed into one. I wondered if Barbie Arizona had always been in love with Kellan, but it had taken me to express it to him.

  I laughed at Ariele, “I’ll stop, don’t hurl!”

  Ariele looked at the clock, “It’s late, Mom and Dad will be back soon, let’s sleep on this and talk tomorrow? Let’s go to the Halloween house tomorrow for a laugh and hang out. Ask Harry as well?”

  “Did you forget about Ella’s talent show tomorrow?” Kellan asked in surprise.

  “Forget? No, I didn’t know anything about it,” I said exhausted.

  “It’s the annual Mountain View talent contest tomorrow, hosted by her school this year. She’s been excited about it for ages and has been practicing her singing. You’re accompanying her on the guitar.”

  I looked at him in horror, “You can’t be serious!”

  He looked at me with a somber expression and I started to wonder if there was any possibility at all that he could teach me to play whatever I had to play by tomorrow.

  “Kellan, you have to help me. Ariele, do you have a guitar?”

  She nodded and went to fetch it. It was a wooden one, much like Rupert’s. I picked it up and started strumming the strings. They felt familiar; maybe I could do this after all.

  “What tune, Kellan?”

  “Hannah Montana, Best of Both Worlds.…”

  I looked over at him in horror and noticed his lips quivering. He collapsed on the floor shaking. Ariele and I stared at him; he’d totally lost it. This was all way too much for him. I put the guitar down and knelt down on the floor next to him putting my arms around him to stop him from shaking. Ariele went to fetch some water.

  He slowly turned around in my arms to face me. Tears were streaming down his face. He was LAUGHING! I let go of him and his head hit the floor with a loud bang. He sat up and brushed himself off and then pulled me toward him.

  “I’m sorry, Shrimp! I had to, it’s just too funny, your face….”

  “What’s so funny, Kellan?”

  “Oh, Shrimp, you don’t have to play tomorrow. There’s no talent show. I was just making that up.”

  I pushed him off me. I was furious.
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br />   “Kellan, that’s not funny, you really had me going. Promise me you won’t do that again. I have to be able to trust you, especially when I can’t trust myself.”

  He stopped and looked at me earnestly.

  “I promise. Seriously though, it’s my dad’s October barbeque tomorrow. You always come and I think you and your family are invited as well, Ariele?”

  Ariele looked like she seriously was going to hurl right at us.

  “I vaguely remember Mom mentioning something about a barbeque. ‘Larry?’ Is that your dad? I was going to blow it off, but I’ll go it if you guys are going to be there?”

  “Yes, that’s my dad, Ariele, please come. We might be able to gather some information while we are enjoying my dad’s juicy burgers!”

  “I’ll think about it, but you two have to promise to keep the PDA to the very minimum! It’s gross.”

  “Kellan, is anything expected of me tomorrow,” I asked him tentatively. I could see the gleam in his eyes as he decided whether to try another one, but I am sure my sour expression prevented him and he just shook his head and laughed.

  “No, just be your sweet little self!”

  “Now, there’s a challenge,” chuckled Ariele and I looked at the two of them and burst into giggles.

  It was a wonder that only two people lived in this palatial-looking mansion. The white stone facade was immaculate. It looked like it had been recently cleaned. There was beautifully manicured shrubbery lining the gravel driveway and post lights all along it. We pulled up into a mini parking lot, built to receive about ten cars and parked in the only free space.

  We were late. Late mainly because of Ella, who had gone through at least ten outfit changes before she was forced to put on a dress with a yellow and white sunflower design. The problem had been finding something suitable for a “fall” barbeque, not too summery. Until my mom had finally lost it and made her wear this bright, summery number.

  Ella was not the least bit pleased and sat in the car looking extremely disagreeable. Her main concern was that her two BFFs, Sally and Jonas were going to be here. Luckily, for me, I didn’t have these issues. I had thrown on a pair of jean shorts, t-shirt and my trusted Havaianas. I had made a little extra effort by putting a scarf around my neck to hide the bruises and added some lip gloss at Ella’s insistence.

  I spotted Kellan at the door as we made our way up the imposing walk way. He looked so good, dressed casually in khaki shorts, white short-sleeved shirt and flip flops. He didn’t look as relaxed as usual though and I noticed that he nervously ran his fingers through his hair as he saw me.

  He did manage a subdued smile and said, “Everyone’s round the back as usual. I just need a quick word with Arizona and then we’ll join you. Ella, you look beautiful! I love the yellow, it suits you perfectly.”

  Ella instantaneously brightened up; the change was miraculous. She beamed as she led the rest of our group through the door. As soon as they turned the corner, Kellan took my hand and started dragging me through the hallways. We ended up in a large room that looked like a study or library. There was a huge leather-topped oak desk in one corner. The walls were covered in bookcases, filled with leather bound books. There was a sitting area in the middle with two large leather sofas facing each other and a glass coffee table in the middle. There was a flat screen TV on one wall and under it two small tables with lap top computers. I noticed a large painting sitting on an easel in one corner. It was of a very beautiful girl with a pensive expression; similar to one I had seen on Kellan’s face. I guessed it was of his late mother. Kellan put his hands on my shoulders and turned me to face him. I looked up at him, he looked hard and serious. It got me worried. He very rarely looked so grim.

  “You’re scaring me, what’s up?” I asked with an edge.

  He took my hand and gritted his teeth, “Simla and Justin are here.”

  I took a step back, feeling my legs wobble. He put his arm around my waist steadying me and walked me over to the couch where he pulled me down beside him.

  “Why?” I asked as my hand involuntarily went up and shielded my neck.

  “Well, their parents do work for Dad so they always come, but always alone. They are really nice. This is the first time that Simla and Justin have come with them, as well as Simla’s dad. They’ve never come before. So, I didn’t even consider this. I’m not sure why they are here. I’m so sorry you have to put up with this. Maria, Ali, Ariele and Harry are all out there. We’ll make sure you’re not left alone for a second.”

  I was going to have to face them sooner or later, later being at school tomorrow. At least I would be able to do it in a safe situation here, I hoped. I wondered what they were up to. Why would they choose to confront me here, when what Simla had done was so very obviously wrong? I could, if I chose, get her into heaps of trouble. What did she have over me, and my family, that made her so arrogant? I felt my head pounding and my neck felt raw.

  “Kellan, I can’t do this. Please, take me home.” I could feel the anger building up inside me as I said the words and before Kellan could respond I shook my head and said, “Ignore me. I’m going to go out there, I can’t let this beat me.”

  Kellan looked concerned, “Shrimp, you don’t have to. However, if you decide to, know that you are totally safe.”

  “I know,” I stood up and pulled him up.

  “I can do this. If I don’t, I won’t be able to show my face at the tryouts tomorrow. And there is no way I’m letting anything keep me from that.”

  I took his hand and waited for him to lead me to them, but he looked down at my hand thoughtfully and whispered, “Are you sure you want us to come out to Harry and everyone else right now?”

  I laughed, “I guess it will get everyone’s attention,” I said squeezing his hand. “You have an issue with it? Scared?”

  He shook his head and laughed, “No, I think we should, I’m sick of hiding this,” he said squeezing my hand right back. “Although, maybe I should be scared. Harry is going to kill me.” He tightened his grip around my hand and pulled me closer to him. He kissed me softly before pulling me out the door with him.

  I couldn’t help noticing the amazing décor of his house as he led me through it, everything was so ornate. Fancy chandeliers hung everywhere, the halls had white stone floors and the red walls were covered with abstract art. One looked vaguely familiar and I pointed to it.

  “Your mother did that one, she’s really amazing.”

  The furniture was an interesting mixture of vintage and modern. We walked into a huge kitchen, again very modern with a large aluminum island in the middle. A tall middle-aged lady stood by it, concentrating hard on putting decorations onto some pastries.

  “Hello, Anna,” said Kellan acknowledging her.

  “Hello, Master Kellan. Miss Arizona, how are you?”

  “I’m good, thanks, Anna. Those pastries look yummy,” I said and she handed me one. I popped it into my mouth where it melted away into pure heaven, the best pastry ever.

  I smiled, “Oh, Anna, these are delicious!”

  She looked pleased and smiled as Kellan and I made our way to the porch doors and headed out into the sunshine. Harry came up to us first. He looked at Kellan.

  “Did you tell her?”

  Kellan nodded as Harry’s eyes moved down to our hands.

  “What happened? Did you fall, Arizona? You really need to be more careful.”

  Kellan squeezed my hand as he shook his head and shrugged at Harry.

  “You’re kidding, right?” challenged Harry.

  “It’s ok, Harry. I forced him,” I said mischievously.

  I could see that he wasn’t the least bit amused, but decided to let it go for the moment. There were other issues to worry about.

  “Arizona, you’re a monkey. Let go of him and stop winding me up. We have to keep you safe. Don’t do anything to prevent that.”

  I nodded, but clung on to Kellan’s hand though I could feel him trying to loosen his grip.
I turned around and gave him a Stevens stare. Thankfully, Kellan’s dad came up to us with some burgers.

  “Hello, Arizona. How’s the neck?”

  “I’m ok, thank you. Anna is making the most delicious pastries in there. She gave me a preview and these burgers look and smell mouthwatering, thank you.” I could see his eyes move to my Kellan-occupied hand and he winked at Kellan. Kellan and I took our plates and walked over to the cooler to get some drinks. Ariele, Maria and Ali walked over to us and Maria whispered in a hushed voice, “Simla and Justin are over there,” pointing to the trees in the far corner. I glanced over and noticed Simla chatting animatedly with Justin and some other girl I didn’t recognize.

  “Who’s that other girl?”

  “Oh, that’s Ingrid, she is an exchange student from Sweden. She’s here for a year, she’s ok,” said Ali, “Although a bit silly girly.”

  “Where are Simla’s parents?” I asked, forgetting that I was supposed to know who they were.

  “Over there, silly,” said Ali pointing right ahead of us at a smallish, nondescript man and a tall, elegant lady in a long gypsy dress. They were standing chatting with a tall, striking looking man. I guessed he was probably Justin’s dad.

  “Ah, can’t see what’s in front of my eyes today,” I said trying to laugh it off sheepishly.

  Ali looked over at me with a grin and winked, “Yes, your mind’s elsewhere? What’s with the handholding?”

  I laughed, but avoided replying and I turned and started walking to the pool. I sat down on a pool lounger with Ariele. Ali and Maria took their shorts and t-shirts off and jumped in.

  “Come on in, Arizona and Ariele, its warm, almost hot!”

  I looked over. Ella was in the pool screaming angrily at her friends as they splashed her with water. She looked so cute in her little bunny swimsuit. Her face was red with fury. She spotted Kellan and shouted at him.

  “Come in and help me, Kellan!”

  He looked over at me, “Come in with me?”

  “I didn’t bring a swimsuit….”

  “Oh, you have a few here, let me show you where.”