Anywhere But Here

by Paul, JL

  Finally he turned to me and cupped my face gently. He pressed his lips to mine so tenderly, my heart stopped momentarily as my hands flew to his waist. He rested his forehead on mine and grinned. “Am I neglecting you?”

  “No,” I said, rolling to my toes. I just wanted him to kiss me again regardless of the people milling about us. “Not now.”

  Chuckling, he fulfilled my wish by kissing me again, this time allowing his lips to linger over mine briefly before brushing them again and again. Heat surged through my veins as I moved closer, eager to be pressed against him, wanting to disappear somewhere with him where nothing existed but us.

  “It’s getting late. Do you want me to take you home?” he asked, his mouth still on mine.

  “No,” I breathed. “I want you to take me somewhere quiet.”

  He grinned, took me by the hand, and towed me through the crowd to the empty kitchen. Leaning against a counter, he jerked me into his arms. “This will have to do for the time being - I can’t exactly take you upstairs.” His cheeks reddened, making my heart swelled. I kissed him.

  His arms wound around me and eased me closer as he kissed me again. I sighed quietly, snaking my arms over his shoulders so I could run my fingers through his adorable curls.

  “Oh! Sorry!”

  Fin and I broke apart, both of us breathing heavily and blushing profusely as we eyed Sabrina. “No problem,” Fin muttered, pulling me back into his arms.

  Sabrina smiled at us for a second then turned toward the refrigerator. “Um, Fin, do you think you could help Damon bring up a case or two of soda from the basement?”

  “Sure,” he said, pecking my cheek before maneuvering around me.

  I watched him leave, panic striking my heart. I nibbled my lip and took Fin’s place against the counter as Sabrina withdrew a soda from the refrigerator. Cracking it open, she glanced at the door before smiling again.

  “My cousin, Marcy, thinks she recognizes you, too,” Sabrina said in a gentle voice. “Rena Hamilton, right?”

  “Yes,” I said warily. “That’s right.”

  Her eyes instantly clouded as she set her soda on the island, her head bobbing slowly. “Your family was in the newspaper last summer. And they recently ran a small article last weekend after the Frieze girl was found in the woods.”

  I bit the inside of my cheek, looking desperately for a way to escape. My heart thundered in my chest, my lungs tightening as my pulse pounded in my ears. “Look, Sabrina,” I said, my voice squeaky. “Please, don’t say anything, okay? No one around here knows and I’d like to keep it that way.”

  Her eyes grew as she placed a hand to her chest. “Fin doesn’t even know?” I shook my head, my eyes shooting to the door. I didn’t need him and Damon returning while Sabrina discussed this particular topic with me. “I was surprised that no one around here said anything – I mean the gossip in this little town is atrocious.”

  “I know,” I muttered in a droll tone. I cleared my throat. “Everyone around here gets Detroit or South Bend stations. I live far enough north that my sister’s story didn’t reach the people here – or if it did back when it happened, no one remembers or put two and two together.” My eyes beseeched her. “I don’t need the overbearing sympathy or people being uncomfortable around me or any of that. Please, don’t say anything to anyone – not even Damon. I’ll tell them when the time is right.”

  Her brows dipped over her uncertain eyes but she eventually nodded and allowed a slow, sympathetic smile to slip across her lips. “Okay, Rena. But if there’s anything I can do for you…”

  I held up a hand to stop her words – words I’d heard a hundred times before. “There’s not. But thanks.”

  “Sure,” she said as Damon and Fin, laden down with cases of soda, stormed back into the room. We both offered them weak smiles and later, when Fin was driving me home, he asked me about it.

  “You two seemed to be having some sort of serious conversation,” he said.

  I shrugged in the dark as I admired the scenery outside my window. “We just know a couple of the same people, that’s all.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked, his voice dripping with doubt.

  “Yep,” I said as he parked in the driveway. He turned to me and brushed the hair off my shoulders. “Thanks for tonight.”

  He kissed me lightly and pulled back to smile. “I had a good time with you.” He kissed me again as I clenched the front of his coat in my fist, not wanting to let him loose. “Do you want to come to the game tomorrow? It’s not at home but it’s not that far away.”

  “Yes,” I hissed, yanking him closer so I could kiss him.

  “Good,” he said, ripping his lips from mine. “I’ll call you tomorrow and give you directions.” A playful smirk took over his face. “My parents want to meet you, anyway.”

  My eyes grew as horror overshadowed all the warm feelings that had been swirling around my heart. Parents? Already?

  “Are you okay with that?” he asked, concerning lurking in his eyes.

  “Yeah, sure,” I said. “I need to get inside. Talk to you tomorrow.”

  I fled the car, peeked inside Aunt Franki’s room to let her know I was home, and dashed down the stairs only to collapse on my bed. I collected all my thoughts into a neat little pile. I sorted through them, my heart bouncing up and down in confusion. Things were gathering and threatening like dark storm clouds and if I wasn’t careful, they would open up and drench me in a torrential rain. And then, for sure, I’d drown.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “So, you have a week off from counseling, huh?” Aunt Franki asked over the rim of her coffee cup Saturday morning. She raised a speculative brow as she sipped the hot liquid.

  “Yeah, something like that,” I said as I smeared grape jelly on my toast. I kept my back to her and mentally cursed Roberta even though I’d figured she’d call Aunt Franki sooner or later. I scraped the excess jelly off the knife and set it in the sink before picking up my toast and taking a huge bite.

  “Why?” Aunt Franki asked.

  I swallowed, slowly turning to face her. I wondered if her ignorance was an act or if it was genuine – I would have thought Roberta would have told her everything. I lifted a shoulder and studied my toast. “We just decided to take a break, that’s all.”

  “A break? After everything that happened last weekend?” She set her mug on the table, incredulous look shining in her eyes.

  I shrugged again as if the whole idea was lost on me. “So, what happened with your show or whatever it was you were supposed to do last weekend?” I asked, smoothly shifting the conversation.

  “Oh, well, nothing,” she said as she blew the steam off her coffee, her cheeks flushed. “Sean stepped in for me – handled the entire exhibit and relayed my apologies to everyone. I’m supposed to meet him tonight to discuss how things went.”

  The lovely color on her cheeks told me that dinner tonight was more than discussing a show they’d probably already discussed over the phone. I decided to cut her a break and not razz her about her ‘dinner meeting’.

  “Well, that’s nice,” I said, restraining a smile. “I’m going to go to Fin’s hockey game tonight, I guess.”

  It was her turn to grin. “Still say he’s not your boyfriend?”

  “I don’t know,” I admitted, my entire face flaming. “I’m just going to the game. He’s supposed to call me this morning and give me directions. It’s an away game, you know, but it’s not that far.” I clamped my lips shut to stop my rambling, but the damage was already done.

  A huge smile broke out on her face as she leaned back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest. “Maybe you could just ride with his parents.”

  “Funny,” I grumbled as a quiver started at the bottom of my heart. I’d nearly forgotten that Fin intended to introduce me to his parents.

  My cell phone trilled in my pocket, saving me from further embarrassment. I yanked it out, flipped it open, and walked out of the room. It was Fin, l
ike I’d figured – except for Jared’s occasional calls, he was the only one who called me.

  “Hey,” he greeted, his low voice causing my stomach to wiggle. “Are you still going tonight?”

  “Sure,” I said as I trailed down the stairs to my bedroom. I dug a pen out of my desk drawer, yanked a piece of paper out of my notebook, and sat down. “Tell me how to get there.”

  He gave me explicit directions and I jotted them down quickly, reading them back when he finished. Once he was satisfied that I wouldn’t get lost, he chattered excitedly about the upcoming game. Apparently, it was a big one against a rivaling team and he wanted to do well.

  “So, um, should I meet you somewhere or something?” I asked, too afraid to mention meeting his parents. Maybe he’d forgotten.

  “I won’t get to see you before the game, most likely, so I’ll just call your cell after I shower and everything and we’ll figure out a place to meet.”

  “Okay,” I said.

  “I don’t have to ride the team bus home so my parents thought we could all go for ice cream or something afterwards. Then, I can ride back home with you, if you don’t mind, and we could hang out for a bit.”

  My heart sank to my stomach at the thought of meeting his parents. For some reason, it made it all the more – official. I was still up in the air about the whole thing: On the one hand, when I was with Fin, I delighted in being his, well, girlfriend or whatever. But, on the other hand, when I was away from him and had time to think, I wasn’t quite sure if I wanted any sort of relationship. And the whole mess was giving me one massive headache.

  “Still with me, Rena?” he asked.

  “Huh? Oh, yeah. And sure, I’ll give you a ride back. That’s no problem,” I said, a little embarrassed to be caught woolgathering. “So what time does the game start?”

  “Four but we have warm-ups at three so if you get there a little early, I might be able to say hey or something,” he said, his voice a bit uncertain. I was just beginning to wonder where the overconfident, arrogant Fin was – the one I’d met the first day of school- when he opened his mouth again. “I wouldn’t want you to miss seeing any of my many awesome moves.”

  “Oh, brother,” I mumbled as I rolled my eyes and smiled. “Just when you think it’s safe to assume Fin has gone all humble…”

  “You know you think it’s cute. In fact, you find it downright adorable.”

  “Sure, whatever. I’ll see you in a couple hours. Bye,” I said, softly flipping the phone shut.

  ***

  I usually found long, solitary drives somewhat enjoyable as it gave me a chance to ponder my life. But that afternoon, as I steered my car through the sparse traffic, my thoughts returned to the party the night before.

  The anger-demon that I’d thought I’d banished when things started heating up with Fin, returned with a vengeance. It strained on its leash, desperate to break free and wreak havoc on my already topsy-turvy life.

  I wondered if Sabrina would keep her word and not say anything to Damon about Camille. At the time, I’d believed her but the more I thought about it, the greater the panic forming in my stomach became. I remembered how I’d been before Camille disappeared, back when life had been totally different. I remembered hearing a secret and promising to not tell a soul but as soon as I spoke with Tiara, I’d tell her after securing a promise from her not to tell anyone else.

  Is that what Sabrina had done? Was she doing it at that moment? I was fairly certain she was pretty close to Damon and probably kept little from him. Would she feel the need to tell him out of some sense of duty? Would she feel as if she was betraying his trust if she didn’t tell him? After all, she and I had just met but she’d known Damon a lot longer – I had yet to earn any sort of her loyalty.

  I gripped the wheel tighter as the anger-demon ran eager circles on my shoulders, practically frothing at the mouth in excitement. I would have to dispel it quickly as I didn’t want its company when I met Fin’s parents. It was bad enough the whole school thought I was some kind of freak – I didn’t need Fin’s parents to think so, too.

  As I approached Morrisson, I was sort of relieved for the heavier traffic as it required my concentration. Besides, I had to consult with Fin’s directions constantly as the town was larger than Dunewood and I wasn’t sure exactly where I was going.

  But Fin’s directions were remarkably accurate and I easily found the large, rotund building that obviously housed the skating rink or arena – whatever they called it. I parked in the expansive parking lot, frowning at the lack of vehicles. Only a handful of cars along with a couple of yellow buses were in the lot. I tugged the collar of my jacket up and headed for the door. It was still early and I was certain if the inhabitants of this town were anything like Dunewood, they’d arrive in throngs and invade the place like pirates pillaging foreign shores.

  My uneasiness returned tenfold, driving the anger-demon insane, as I entered the building and followed the signs to the rink. What if Fin’s parents were there already and he introduced us? Would I be bound somehow to sit with them throughout the entire game and forced to make strained small talk?

  A sudden wave of nausea rocked my body and nearly sent me reeling but I steadied myself with a quick hand to the wall of the narrow hall. I drew in a few breaths before moving on without attracting attention.

  The hall opened to a grandstand that surrounded a vast rink. Several people dressed in red were doing laps on the ice, their voices loud and rowdy as they called out encouragement to each other, pepping themselves for the match. A few people sat in the stands, not really paying attention – except for the girls that were lined up behind the players’ benches.

  I climbed up the stands to the very top, isolating myself from the others. Feeling a bit safer, I started to relax as the red-clad skaters exited the ice, most likely to prepare for the game. I didn’t have to wait long until the guys in blue took to the rink, warming up and working into their own pre-game rituals. I spotted Fin easily as his blue Dunewood Coyotes warm-up gear identified him as “FIN” in large letters on the back. My heart kicked up a notch as I watched him glide elegantly over the ice, batting a puck around recklessly with his team mates.

  A stupid smile slipped across my face as my eyes remained trained on him and his smooth, simple movements. I couldn’t wait for the game – I was eager to see him in action. I couldn’t wait to see him skate furiously across the expansive ice and shoot the puck into the net. I was actually starting to regret that I didn’t know a whole lot about hockey and vowed to do a little more research first chance I got.

  I watched, mesmerized for a while, until they started congregating around what I supposed was going to be their bench. That was when Fin’s searching eyes finally located me and waved me closer. With a big smile, I climbed down to the wall where he stood waiting, his curls damp.

  “Hey, you made it,” he said, grinning. I fought the urge to kiss him.

  “Yep. Great directions.”

  His grin widened as he took my hand. “Mom and Dad aren’t here yet but they’re excited to meet you.”

  I struggled to keep the cool mask on my face as I forced words through my falsely smiling lips. “That’s cool. I can’t wait either.”

  He squeezed my hand as he laughed, yanking me close enough to press a kiss to my lips. “You are such a sucky liar. It’s okay if you’re a little keyed up about meeting them.”

  My lips fell into a frown. “Huh?”

  “Don’t worry about it,” he said as he eased me closer to kiss me again. “I’d be terrified if I was about to meet your parents.”

  Horror hit me and it took all my strength to keep it from showing on my face. I swallowed, still managing to keep a neutral expression in place. I couldn’t imagine introducing Fin to my parents – what a joke that would be. Would my mother even acknowledge him or would she lose interest as soon as she realized he held no answers to the Camille mystery? And my father – how would he react?

  I pushed all th
ose questions out of my mind and slipped a smile on my face. “I wouldn’t subject you to that sort of hell.”

  He chuckled but a flicker of confusion flashed in his eyes. “Aw, come on. I bet your parents aren’t that bad.”

  I shrugged, my eyes darting all over the arena, searching frantically for some source of conversation change – something to rip the topic away from my family. “Don’t you have to go get all padded up and listen to a pep talk from your coach?” I asked as his team mates skated to an opening on the rink.

  “Yeah,” he sighed, running a hand through his sweaty curls. “I do. Meet me by the front doors after the game, okay?”

  “Yep,” I agreed, bending to place a short kiss on his lips. “Good luck, go team, and all that sporty stuff.”

  He barked out a quick laugh, shot me a wink, and skated away to prepare for his game. I sighed like the lovesick teenager I was turning into and climbed through the growing crowd to my seat near the top.

  The place filled up rather quickly once game time approached. I watched in amazement at the love and dedication the people had for this game and the players. As a cheerleader, I’d known that people – and not just students – were into supporting their team, some to the point of obsession, but in this little corner of the world – this region of tiny, insignificant towns – their fervor was nearly at a religious level.

  I sat alone in a corner furthest from the ice where I easily recognized several classmates and people from town. I cringed, hoping none of them would tear their eyes from the activities on the ice to find me perched alone above them all and start their whispering – especially with Fin’s parents around somewhere.

  When the game began, I forgot about those around me as I tried to concentrate on the little puck zigzagging all over the ice. It was easy to become engrossed and even easier to cheer and applaud for Fin’s team – so easy that I forgot all about meeting his parents. By the time the third period began, all the stress had streamed from my body and puddled at my feet as I stood and screamed wildly. Fin had possession of the puck and was darting between opposing players, dead set on scoring. Standing and nearly clawing my own face in excitement, my eyes remained on Fin as he smacked the puck, sending it soaring into the net. I jumped up and down, ignoring those around me, as Fin’s team mates celebrated with him on the ice.