My Sweet Escape

by Chelsea M. Cameron

  “I’m going to meet a friend,” I said to Renee as I downed my second cup of Lemon Zinger. I’d really gotten addicted to that stuff, and I even had my own corner of the cabinet now for my stash.

  “Who?” I hadn’t really mentioned Hannah in great detail to Renee since she had been so pissy the night before. I didn’t know why. I guess I just didn’t want to get into it with her. She’d want to know all about her, and I didn’t want to share Hannah with other people. She was my friend.

  “Don’t worry. You’ll get to meet her. She’s coming to Hunter’s thing. I’m just picking her up on my way.”

  She looked suspicious, but seriously, that was what I was doing.

  “Okay. I’ll meet you there, then. Drive safe.” Wow, that was the first time she’d let me out of the house without a massive lecture. I met Paul’s eyes and mouthed, “thank you.” He nodded back.

  I parked in front of Oxford Hall, Hannah’s dorm, and sent her a text to say I was ready. She came down a few minutes later, her hair loose and all over the place.

  “Hey, girl. What’s up?”

  “Not a whole lot. You?”

  “Nope. Just normal roommate drama, but I’m over it. I would have invited you up, but she’s there, and I don’t want to provoke her any more than I already do by existing in her space. Plus, she’s a major bitch.” She clicked her seat belt and gave me a rueful smile.

  I found a spot in the commuter lot right across from the Union.

  “Do you mind if I stop for a little pick-me-up?” Hannah said.

  “Nope.”

  Hannah filled up on caffeine from the Starbucks and I marveled at how empty the Union was when classes weren’t in session. It was a ghost town. It wasn’t until we got out to the walkway that crossed over to the other side of the Union that we looked down and saw all the people waiting in front of the bookstore on the lower level.

  The Steiners were easy to spot because they all had black T-shirts that said Steiners and were standing in a tight group. I spotted Hunter mostly because his arm tattoo was so visible. Dusty was also easy to spot because of his sagging pants. I leaned over the railing and squinted. Huh. He had some ink, too, peeking out from the edge of his T-shirt sleeve.

  His tattoo was impossible to read from my angle. Not that I was trying, or really cared that much about it.

  “Who are we staring at?” Hannah said in my ear, making me jump. She sipped on a giant cup of iced something-or-other and leaned next to me.

  “No one in particular,” I said, standing back up.

  “Uh-huh,” she said in a tone that said she didn’t believe me one little bit. Yeah, I didn’t believe me, either. I looked away from the guys and found Taylor’s blond ponytail and then I saw the rest of the household joining her.

  “So,” I said, facing Hannah. “You wanna meet the crazies I live with?”

  She took a long sip from her straw.

  “Lead the way.”

  The space in front of the bookstore grew increasingly crowded as more people arrived to see the show. Hannah and I threaded our way through, and I caught Renee’s eye as she searched for me.

  “There you are,” she said, holding Paul’s hand. “And you must be Hannah.” Renee barely even looked at Hannah’s scars. I’d expected that; nothing phased Renee, least of all something like a scar.

  “I must be,” Hannah said, shrugging. “I’m going to take a wild guess and say you’re Renee.”

  “Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner,” Renee said, laughing.

  “This is Paul,” I said, motioning to him. He nodded and smiled at Hannah. I whistled and Mase turned his head. He’d been deep in conversation with Darah. You could set a tornado around those people and they wouldn’t even be aware of it.

  “Hey, nice to meet you. Any friend of Jos’s is a friend of ours.”

  Then Taylor introduced her friend Megan, a fellow redhead, and her fiancé, Jake, and I liked her instantly and not just because we were hair comrades.

  I went through the rest of the introductions and pointed out Hunter, who was busy chatting with some of the other guys as they got ready.

  “He’s freaking out,” Taylor said, watching him.

  “He doesn’t look like it.” He was smiling and laughing.

  “He’s tapping.” I looked down and saw that he was tapping his hand against his leg. One, two, three, four, five times in a row. “He always does that when he’s freaking out. I have no idea why—this isn’t his first show. I swear, the minute I think I understand him is the minute he decides to surprise me.” She nibbled on a hangnail and I noticed her ring was missing.

  “Where’s the rock?”

  “Hunter’s lawyer, Joe, wanted to get it appraised or something so they could take out insurance on it, or something? I feel crazy not having it. You’d be surprised that you can get used to wearing something like that.”

  Megan coughed and Taylor gave her a look. Huh. Wonder what that was about.

  “Um, spoiler alert, but that guy over there is trying to eye fuck you,” Hannah said, her voice just a little too loud. I didn’t even need to look up to see who it was.

  “Shh, keep your voice down. I’m fully aware of him.”

  “Uh-huh,” she said, sucking the last few drops of her drink into her straw and then tossing it in the nearest trash can. “He’s pretty sexy.” She turned her head sideways and then to the other side.

  “You should totally hit that. He looks like he’d be...good.” Like either of us would know.

  I finally decided to look in Dusty’s direction. While he was talking with one of the other guys, his eyes were definitely turned my way. He caught me staring and winked. My eyes traveled down his arm, trying to make out the tattoo, but it was mostly covered by his sleeve.

  “Stop ogling,” Hannah hissed in my ear.

  One of the guys cleared his throat and stepped forward as the rest of the Steiners formed a line.

  “Hello, everyone, my name is Kent, and we are The UMaine Steiners. Guys, you wanna introduce yourselves?” One by one, the guys stepped forward and said their names. There were twelve of them in total, and at least half were very good-looking, which was a higher amount than I would have thought.

  Kent snapped his fingers to make a beat and counted. Dusty came in first, laying down a drumbeat, and then the rest of the group started the song. “One More Night” by Maroon 5. I caught Hunter’s eye and he pointed at me. The guys traded off who would sing lead, and Hunter got a turn. Dusty got totally into his beat boxing, even dancing a little with it. The other guys also danced, a few even making a little joke of it as everyone laughed.

  They finished the song, and Dusty made the cymbal crash sound again. Everyone cheered and clapped and the guys regrouped and started another song. This time it was an old one, Hoobastank’s “The Reason,” followed by a mash-up of a bunch of Queen songs that got everyone humming along and had plenty of awesome dance moves, and then “P.Y.T.” by Michael Jackson.

  “They’re really good,” Hannah said in my ear. “And your beat boxer is beyond sexy. I’m just imagining all of the things he could do with that mouth.”

  I ignored her comments as the group took a quick break and had some water. Hunter stepped forward.

  “Hello, everyone. I’m Hunter, and I’m going to have to beg for your attention for a second.”

  “What the hell is that boy doing?” Taylor said under her breath.

  “You see, I love this girl over here.” He pointed to Taylor, and her face turned red. “Yeah, you, Taylor.” He held his hand out, and she stepped forward. “Music has always been a part of our lives. I sang to her on our first real date. I sang to her the first of many times I screwed things up, and so I thought it was only right that I sing to her for this. So, here goes.”

  One of the other gu
ys brought out a chair for Taylor, and Hunter forced her to sit in it. She looked like she wanted to sink into the floor and kept ducking her head so she couldn’t see everyone staring at her.

  I had a feeling I knew where this was going, and everyone else was whispering the same thing around me.

  “Oh, my God, he isn’t,” Renee said.

  “I think he is,” Paul responded.

  This time it was Hunter’s turn to start the song. Dusty set a slow beat that was soft and romantic. It took a few seconds, but I recognized the song, and I knew what was going to happen.

  I watched Taylor’s face as he started singing “I Can’t Wait” by Runner Runner. The second he sang the word wife, she put her hands to her mouth and started to cry. The crowd sighed in unison as Taylor shook her head and wiped tears as Hunter held her hand and sang to her. I caught Dusty’s eye and he smiled at me and I smiled back. You couldn’t help it. Such an open and beautiful expression of love had that effect.

  Hunter was left singing the last note by himself, holding it and then letting it fade before he reached into his pocket as he got down on one knee. My eyes were more than a little moist, but I wasn’t the only one. The surrounding crowd held their collective breaths.

  “Taylor Elizabeth Caldwell, you are the only song I want to sing for the rest of my life and I love you more than the stars. Will you marry me?”

  She only paused for a second before she whispered it, but somehow that whisper carried through the whole room.

  “Yes.”

  The crowd erupted as Hunter yanked her off the chair and swung her around, and she laughed and cried, oblivious now to everyone watching her. The rest of the Steiners broke out singing “Chapel of Love” by The Dixie Cups and a sing-along broke out as everyone clapped and sang with the group.

  Kent stepped forward and asked for quiet after everyone finished.

  “Yeah, yeah, enough of that.” Everyone booed. “Just kidding. We have one last song for you.” Hunter put his arm around Taylor and pulled her back to stand with the group as Dusty started another beat and they launched into “Walking on Sunshine.” Taylor was so giddy that she sang along and her voice melded with the rest of the group.

  “Thank you, everyone! And let’s have another round of applause for the happy couple!” Everyone clapped and then started heading back to wherever they came from.

  Renee and Darah and Megan let out shrieks that sounded like they belonged to long-extinct dinosaurs and launched themselves at Taylor, and lots more screaming and carrying-on ensued. Hunter and Mase gave each other back-banging hugs, and Mase gave one to Taylor that I was pretty sure crushed her ribs.

  “Congratulations,” I said, giving both of them hugs. “Now you’re really, really family. No escaping us now.”

  “Nice proposal, dude. Well done,” Hannah said to Hunter, holding her fist out. He looked at her for a second, perplexed.

  “Hunter, this is my friend Hannah.”

  “Oh, of course, didn’t mean to leave you hanging there.” He bumped her hand. I could tell Taylor had a hard time not staring at Hannah’s face, but after Hannah gave her a huge smile and a hug everything was fine.

  “I saw you crying.” I really needed to stop being surprised when Dusty sneaked up behind me. He’d done it enough times.

  “And you are?” Hannah said, swooping around and getting right in front of him. Dusty didn’t look twice at her face before he smiled.

  “Dusty Sharp, at your service.” He bowed. Hannah didn’t look impressed. Five seconds ago, she’d been talking like she wanted to jump him. Jesus, this girl was going to give me whiplash.

  “Hannah Gillespie. And you, dude, have been staring at my friend Jos, here.”

  His smile faltered for just a second and then he raised his hands as if she’d pointed a gun at him.

  “Guilty as charged. But can you blame me?”

  “Maybe,” Hannah said, narrowing her eyes. I had to put a stop to this.

  “Hey, Hannah, do you want to come shopping with me? Like, right now?” I grabbed her arm and tried to drag her away. I’d been planning on going on my job search, but he didn’t need to know that.

  “Can I come?” Dusty said, following us. No, idiot, the point was to get away from you.

  “Uh, no,” I said. “You wouldn’t want to come with us. We’ll be buying things like tampons and yeast infection cream and...other things for our lady parts and sparkly earrings and lots and lots of pink.”

  “Sounds like fun.” Ugh, could anything I say turn this guy off?

  “Why don’t we do something a little less...um, disgusting? Do you live on campus?” Hannah directed her question to Dusty.

  “No, I have my own place in Old Town. I would invite you there, but I’m pretty sure the mold growing in my bathroom is becoming sentient and would murder you when I turned my back.”

  “Ew,” Hannah and I said at the same time.

  “Yeah, I keep trying to get my landlord to do something about it, but no dice. Can’t get anywhere when you’re poor as shit.”

  “Amen. You speak my language, dude.” Hannah nodded. Oh, now she was cool with him again. They’d bonded over their shared financial difficulties.

  Somebody called out to Dusty to remind him of plans next week or something. “Actually, I have to get to work. Sorry, ladies. Rain check?”

  “Sounds good,” Hannah said.

  “But, Red, I will see you on Sunday. The guys have sort of planned a little surprise party for Hunter and Taylor, and all the members of Yellowfield House are invited, of course. And you, Hannah Gillespie, are also invited.”

  “Sweet,” she said. “I have nothing else to do.”

  “Sounds like fun.”

  Renee called my name.

  “We’re going out to celebrate. Are you coming?”

  So much for job hunting. “Yeah, sure.”

  “Am I invited?” Hannah yelled.

  “Of course,” Renee, Mase and Hunter yelled back.

  It was scary how well she was fitting in with us.

  “Well, I guess this is goodbye, then. I’ll see you tomorrow. Red, Hannah Gillespie.” He nodded at both of us, grabbed his bag and waved goodbye to the other guys from the group and took the stairs two at a time.

  “He is...something else,” Hannah said, staring after him.

  “My thoughts exactly.”

  * * *

  The only topic of conversation when we went out to eat at Pat’s Pizza was Hunter and Taylor’s plans. Megan was in the midst of planning her own wedding and was busy giving tips and so forth, and Hunter didn’t seem to be nearly as intimidated as I expected him to be.

  “Did he ask your father?” Renee said, her pizza mostly untouched.

  “Actually, I did,” Hunter said, earning a look of approval from Renee.

  “You did?” Taylor said. “When?”

  “Christmas. Planned it all out and everything.” Taylor had recently reconnected with her father, and had even gone down to see him in Connecticut during the break and taken Hunter with her.

  “Brilliant,” Mase said, giving him another fist bump. “I thought you were crazy, man, but best of luck. I’m happy I can officially call Taylor a member of the family. Oh, my God, have you told Harper yet? She’s going to be over the effing moon.”

  “Let’s call her right now.” I knew a little bit about Mase’s sister Harper, who had cerebral palsy and was wheelchair bound. There were more than a few pictures of her in the house, and he’d said she was coming to visit with his parents at some point.

  Hunter got out his phone and put it on speaker.

  “Who are they calling?” Hannah whispered as the phone rang.

  “Mase’s little sister. She and Hunter are really close,” I said.

  “Hell
o?” A little girl’s voice answered. Seriously, the kid had her own phone? Typical rich people.

  “Hey, Seven! What’s shaking?” Hunter said, a huge smile on his face. It was clear from the way he talked about her that he was completely in love with her. It was really sweet.

  “Hunter! I got an A on my story. Wanna hear it?”

  “Sure, Seven, but I called because I want to tell you something. Taylor’s here, too.”

  “Hi, Harper!” Taylor said.

  “When are you coming to see me?”

  “Soon, princess. I swear. But guess what?”

  “What?” Harper said.

  “Hunter and I are going to get married.”

  “You are?”

  Taylor looked at Hunter and smiled. “Yes, we are.”

  A little-girl scream exploded from the phone, and Hunter picked it up and took it off speakerphone.

  “She has never made that sound before,” Mase said, shaking his head. “I think she’s more excited about that than she was about the Taylor Swift tickets she got for Christmas.”

  Hunter continued to talk to the excited Harper.

  “So you guys going to get hitched right away?” Hannah asked Taylor as she stole the uneaten pizza crust off my plate and munched on it. I guess our friendship had progressed to the food-stealing stage.

  Taylor snorted. “Yeah, I don’t think so. We both want to finish school first, and it seems...I don’t know, weird to get married while we’re still in college. I mean, I don’t want people to think I’m knocked up or anything.”

  “Are you?” Hannah said. I almost died.

  “Not that I know of,” Taylor said. “I just really don’t want to deal with that now. We have too much to do. But someday.”

  Hannah nodded, and Renee went back to grilling Taylor about her perfect wedding.

  * * *

  “You okay?” I was in the kitchen having a cup of tea that night. Everyone else had gone to bed, but I couldn’t sleep. Renee’s voice made me jump.