“Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I’m thinking of holding a kind of street festival. I’d like you to organize it.”
Where was I gonna find time to do that?
“Oh,” I said.
“Get some kids together. Food donations, that kind of thing. Promotion obviously. What do you say? Does that sound like fun, or what?”
I was leaning more towards ‘or what.’
“Mm hmm.” I tried for a smile big enough to match Mr. Kelly’s but my face was protesting, angrily.
“I’ll leave that with you.”
“Great.” I was being sarcastic but it flew right over his optimistic little head.
“Enjoy the rest of your night.”
“Bye, sir.”
He saw me out and when his door closed behind me, I let out my breath. I guess I could get Gracey to donate some food. She would probably do most of it, she was kind of controlling like that. In a good way, of course.
Outside, I pulled my keys from my pocket, looking up to see Mellissa leaning against the hood of my car.
“What, no Drake?” I asked, unlocking the car. Mellissa went round the other side and got in the passenger seat.
“No Drake.”
“Is everything okay?” I looked over at her and she nodded, smiling.
“Everything’s fine.”
“If you say so.”
We left the school parking lot and I dropped Mellissa home.
“Hey, wanna do something Friday night?” I asked, just as she was getting out the car. “I feel like I never see you anymore.”
“Yeah, sure. How about the football game?”
“Because Jason will be there?”
Mellissa leaned in through the open window. “He is QB.”
Oh really? Knows his position and everything.
“I hate football,” I protested. “And I can’t stand Tamara, who will be there by the way, in case you forgot.”
“Then you’d better make sure you look hotter than her,” Mellissa said, smirking.
“Why do you want to see Jason, anyway? Are you bringing Drake…or-”
“I wouldn’t mind a night just me and you.”
“Me too.” I loved the sound of that. I adored Drake, but a night without seeing him, Ressler, or Caleb, I think was much deserved.
“Just me and you then.”
“Like old times,” Mellissa added.
Just like old times, I thought. Perfect.
***
Friday after school, I stopped by the garage. Caleb was there just as I knew he would be, changing the tire on a worn out Mazda.
"Hi," I said. The driver’s side door was open and I sat down, resting my feet on the door frame. Caleb was at the tire just in front, letting the jack down.
"Hi," he said, no smile, no nothing. Well this was awkward. I'd never seen him since our last 'dream encounter' but I had no desire to bring the memory into conversation now. He didn’t look like he wanted to mention it and neither did I. He pushed himself up off the floor and laid his arm to rest over the car door. "I'm locking this place up."
"You're what?"
"I'm closing up."
"What, you mean now, for tonight?"
"No. for a while."
"Why?"
"It's quiet and I can’t be here as often as I need to be. Neither can you."
"You can't make that decision. I need money," I cried.
"I can give you money," he offered, like the decision had already been made and he couldn’t see why we were still bothering to discuss it.
"It's not up to you if we close." It was hard to tell whether I was more irritated at the fact that he was acting like this was his business to run, or that he was telling me what to do. "I don’t want your money, anyway."
This made him laugh. The notion didn't quite fit on his conceited face. "This isn’t about your pride. I'm closing up, and that's the end of it."
"Don’t have time to work?" I was goading him, but he wasn't taking the bait. He was too clever for that.
"You know I don’t."
"Maybe you should spend less time with Tamara," I said smugly, trying to conceal my winning grin.
"Maybe you should keep your nose out of things you have absolutely no idea about."
That shut me up.
I got up out of the car and slammed the door behind me, hopeful I might catch one of his fingers in it. He really needed to get himself checked out for Jekyll and Hyde syndrome.
"Bye then," I begrudgingly ground out between my teeth.
"Are you going straight home?" he asked me.
I stopped, turning to look at him. Since when did he care where I was going?
"I'm going to the football game tonight." Take that.
"See you there then," he said, wiping his hands on a cloth and then throwing it over his bare shoulder.
"How will you see me there?"
"My girlfriend’s head cheerleader, remember?"
I could only stare at him, my expression nothing but a blank gaze. Girlfriend? When the hell did she get that title? I wanted to speak but nothing was happening. I wanted to blast him, right here outside of the garage, but my brain was in overdrive. Words had long deserted me so I just carried on staring at him, wide eyed no doubt.
"Come on then, I wouldn’t want to keep her waiting," he bragged, putting a hand on my shoulder, moving me along.
"Tamara is Caleb's girlfriend," I said to Mellissa as we shimmied in through the crowd and into a space amongst the jam-packed bleachers. The game hadn’t started yet. I think there was about ten minutes till the opening kick-off.
"Excuse me? Did you just say something truly disgusting to me?" Mellissa looked at me, her eyes bugging out of her head. "Could you repeat yourself please?"
"You heard me. Don’t make me say it again." I squeezed in next to an overweight, balding guy who smiled widely at me with mustard from his dripping hot dog all over his lips. I smiled back, well grimaced actually. Same thing. I scooted in closer next to Mellissa. I didn’t feel like getting food all over me. Something told me he would be eating throughout this game.
My eyes wandered down to his coat pocket, the zippers bulging, and a packet of milk duds hanging out.
“I can’t believe that,” Mellissa confessed with a disbelieving shake of her head. “What possessed him?” She was looking at me like that was a genuine question and I’d be damned if I knew the answer.
“I don’t even care,” I said, looking up at the glowing score board. Apparently we were playing Orcas Island.
Mellissa smacked her gloved hands on her knees. “You’re funny, Jensen. You should be on the stage.”
“I’m serious,” I contested.
“Oh please. This is me you’re talking to here. I bet it’s eating you up.”
“You could say I’ve made my peace with it. He’s been acting like a douche for a while now. He doesn’t deserve me to care.”
“Hell yeah,” Mellissa cried. “You go girl.” She was grinning and I knew she was trying to be funny.
“Shut up!” I nudged her in her side. “I’m serious here.”
“We’ll see how long that lasts.”
“Yeah, you will see. I’m done. Finished.”
“Okie dokie,” Mellissa said in a sing song voice. I could see her smiling even from out the corner of my eye.
About three hours later the game ended and we won the game by two points. Unbelievably, I was up cheering with Mellissa. The atmosphere of the crowd was infectious. We fell in line with everyone else, heading down towards the exit, and just as we reached the last row, Mellissa pulled me in towards the emptying seats and excitedly pointed out towards the school playing field.
She was pointing directly at Jason who was amongst the group of celebrating players. He’d taken off his shoulder pads and he was swinging his jersey about his head, laughing and slapping high-five with anyone that passed him. Sweat was dripping down from his hair and he pushed it back, swiping his hand down his wet
face.
“Would you look at that,” she said appreciatively. I didn’t even get a chance to give Jason a second look when I spotted Nathan wave over at us and set off into a sprint in our direction. I let a loud groan escape my lips.
“Oh my god!” Mellissa gasped, right in my ear.
“What?” I asked, jumping at her outburst. But turns out I didn’t need her to tell me what made her shout out loud after all. My gaze followed hers and I swallowed my heart, whole, when I saw Caleb walk up to Tamara in her skimpy cheerleaders outfit on the sidelines and let her wrap her arms and legs around him, diving in for a kiss. It was a good job I hadn’t eaten or I would have brought the whole lot up. I don’t know how I managed to stay standing, but the next thing, Nathan was blocking my vision, smiling animatedly in my face.
“Did you enjoy the game?” he asked me. I looked at him, stunned for a few seconds until I realized he was talking to me.
“Yeah,” I answered. “You were watching it, too?” I shook my head in confusion. He’d left school but he still wanted to hang around here. What kind of loser…
“Wouldn’t miss it. You coming to celebrate?”
I could hear Mellissa’s muffled laughter and I smiled sweetly at Nathan. I knew how much he probably wished he was on that field right now. His excitement was pouring out of him. I wouldn’t be surprised if under his clothes he really had on the team’s uniform.
“You bet,” Mellissa cut in.
What?
“Cool.” Nathan looked surprised that Mellissa had even acknowledged him never mind agreed to go anywhere with him, but my head was somewhere else. Caleb, kissing Tamara. I couldn’t picture anything else. The memory was forever scorched in my mind.
“We’re all meeting at Jets. You gonna meet us there or do you need a ride?” Nathan looked from me to Mellissa anxiously, probably scared that we might change our mind.
“We’ll see you there,” Mellissa said.
“Great. See you there.” And he jogged off back down the steps to the field.
Walking to the car, I couldn’t stop thinking about what I had just seen. It seemed my heart couldn’t quite believe it either, it thrummed so hard in my chest. I felt like I was sleep walking. My legs were moving, but my brain wasn’t switched on.
“Hey.” Mellissa put her hand on my arm. “You don’t look good. Are you okay? I know it must have sucked to have seen that. Even though you are over him.”
Thunder cracked, lighting up the sky overhead and the crowd pulled up hoods over their heads and hurried to parked or waiting cars. Rain started to soak through my coat and I pulled up my own hood. My mood was now out there for everyone to see. I was getting better though, stronger. And I knew now how to keep it under control. Well kind of.
I spotted Caleb’s truck in the parking lot with its tail lights on and I put my hand on Mellissa’s wrist, pulling her along with me.
“Let’s hurry. I’m getting soaked,” I said in avoidance to her question. Really, I just needed to get as far away from here as I could.
Jets was more of a daze than a celebration. I couldn’t get my attention to stay in the room with me for longer than two seconds. When Tamara never showed up, I got a sinking feeling in my stomach and I knew she was with him somewhere. It was enough that I had to call it a night.
Mellissa was standing with Jason, laughing and repeatedly finding reasons to touch his arm. He stood directly in front of her and he slipped his hand around her waist, knocking her back slightly towards the bar. He had been changed and showered and was dressed in a snug grey t-shirt and light blue Levis. Nathan was standing too close to me and I had to take a step sideways to find space to breathe. He must have sensed something was up because he didn’t try and get too much conversation out of me, which I appreciated. Looked like we could be friends after all.
I leaned forward, around Nathan and got Mellissa’s attention.
“I need to go home. Are you coming?” She flicked her blue eyes up towards Jason and I could hear him quietly say ‘please don’t’.
“One sec,” she said to him and stepped out of his way, dragging me into a secluded corner of the arcade. “I’m gonna stay.”
“Okay, well I’m going.”
“I know what you think of me. It’s all over your face.” Mellissa crossed her arms over her chest.
“I’m not thinking anything,” I said, taken aback.
“Oh yeah? Then what’s with the face?”
“Nothing, I’m fine. Never better.”
“I thought you said you were over him?” Him, being Caleb.
“I am. I’m just not ready to see what being over him is like just yet.”
“He doesn’t deserve you,” Mellissa said, trailing her fingers down a strand of my hair.
I closed my eyes and nodded. “Tamara doesn’t deserve him,” I said, softly.
“Well that’s true.”
“I’m gonna go.”
“Okay.” Mellissa took a step back and looked over her shoulder at Jason who was standing at the bar watching her with wanting eyes.
“I’m going to Gracey’s this weekend so I’ll see you Monday?”
“Yeah,” she said with a smile.
“Mellissa-” I turned to face her. “If you ever ask me, just for future reference- Drake is way better than Jason.”
“That’s a given,” she said, agreeing with me. So why was she even wasting her time?
We walked back over to the bar in a mutual silence and I grabbed my things. “I’m gonna head out,” I said to Nathan. The look of disappointment could not have been any clearer on his face than if he was wearing a neon sign on his forehead.
“It’s early,” he said, putting his coke down on the bar behind him.
“I’m tired. Great job tonight, though,” I said, turning to Jason.
“Thanks,” he said. “So you’ll come to another game sometime? Maybe?” He looked more at Mellissa when he asked it and I just let her answer that one.
“You wanna ride home?” Nathan asked me.
“No. I got this.” Drake was standing right next to us. He wore only a powder blue t-shirt with the sleeves completely ripped off and grey sweats, cut off at the knee. He was in a league of his own compared to Nathan and Jason.
“Bye Nathan.” I sidestepped Drake and caught Nathan lock eyes with him and even though he looked pissed off, I, and everyone else, knew he wouldn’t dare say anything to him.
Drake walked over to Mellissa and thread his fingers through hers, letting Jason know she was his and no one else’s. Not without a fight at least. Jason moved back out of the way, unsure what to do, and made no attempt to stop Mellissa from leaving.
“Let’s go,” Drake said to her. She glanced back at Jason, letting Drake lead her from the arcade, wrapping her arm securely around his. I breathed a sigh of relief that no one had started fighting. That could have ended much differently.
Drake dropped me home and Ressler was there waiting for me. He was sitting on the stairs when I walked through the front door. I barely managed a smile for him. I was worn out… completely drained. I lowered myself onto the stairs next to him.
“Hi,” I managed. I dropped my head onto his shoulder and he tilted his head so it was resting on top of mine.
“How was the game?” he asked.
I wouldn’t mention the Caleb kissing scene. It wasn’t necessary. It was time to start working on forgetting. “We won.”
“Great?” He moved his head out of the way to look at me.
“I guess. It was kinda fun. I’m gonna get changed real quick,” I said, getting up.
In my bedroom, I pulled open the drawer of my jewelry box and shook three sleeping pills loose from the bottle. I quickly swallowed them and changed into my pajamas. I couldn’t sleep tonight and face a possible encounter with Casanova. I would ride this one out.
The gentle patter of the rain against the windows was the only sound in the living room when I came back downstairs. Ressler was sitting in the cha
ir in front of the kitchen, watching infomercials on the T.V.
“It’s Saturday tomorrow,” I said to him, perching my butt on the edge of the window frame.
He looked up at me. “And?”
“Matoskah asked me back to Neah Bay, remember?”
“Yes. I was hoping you wouldn’t.” He flicked the channel over and settled for a low budget horror movie.
“I’m going,” I said. “I would go alone if you would let me.”
“I know you would, and it’s not happening.”
“I wanna get there early. It takes so long with Sully.”
“Yeah well, we could always take the ferry and get there Sunday.”
“Sully’s fine,” I huffed. The ferry was too slow with too many stops and changes.
The curtains were open behind me and I stood up, peering out into the rainy night. There was a thin sheen of mist in the air from the dampness and the whole street was in darkness. Because mine was the only house, there wasn’t any streetlights nearby. I had to strain my eyes to make out the figure walking down the street away from my house. I could tell it was obviously a man because the build was a lot bulkier and taller than a woman, and they walked with their hands jammed into their puffy, jacket pockets, with their head bent forward.
There was no reason for me to be alarmed or threatened by him whatsoever, but I went and locked the front door just to be safe. I went through into the kitchen and turned the lock. My fingers fumbled on the chain and I jumped back, screaming at the top of my lungs. There, looking at me through the glass in the door, was the manically screaming face of what looked like a lunatic freshly escaped from the asylum. There was no sound coming from his mouth, and his scruffy blonde hair, flailed about his head wildly, in the wind.
“Boo,” he shouted in delight and I screamed even louder. The whole street must have been engulfed in the sound of my desperate fear.
The kitchen light flicked on causing whatever was at the window to vanish.
“What’s wrong?” Ressler came running into the kitchen, crouching down In front of me.
“Out there.” I pointed towards the back door and Ressler jumped up, hastily unlocking the door and flinging it open. I braced myself for whatever was on the other side, but there was no one there.
Falling Darkness: The second book in the Falling Awake Series Page 12
