Southern Exposure

by Lari Smythe

  Chapter 19 Jason

  Izzy hadn't said a word since we had to leave—I was freezing—a mortal thing. I turned onto the winding road that led up to her driveway. "I'm sorry about messing up the evening."

  She looked up from under her long lashes, her eyes that soft shade of honey—the color when she was most in control. "You don't have to be sorry, I had a wonderful time."

  "Then why so glum?"

  She pointed toward an opening in the trees along the road. "It's better if you let me off here."

  "Your house is just a little further, I'd rather take you all the way home. I mean what kind of guy drops his girl off on the side of the road?"

  "Please, Jason, its better this way."

  "Why?" I asked, sensing the hesitation in her voice. I slammed on the brakes and skidded sideways to a stop as Izzy suddenly threw open the door and jumped out. I stopped facing her through the opened door.

  "It's better for my family!" she yelled. "It's selfish of us to tempt them just so you can take me to the door!"

  "Okay, I can see that." Having the whole vampire thing out in the open hadn't had the calming effect I'd hoped—at least not yet.

  Izzy glanced up the side of the mountain, then back to me as though she were considering.

  "So, I guess that kind of rules out picking you up tomorrow then?"

  She didn't acknowledge me, but tilted her head to the side like she'd done many times before when she seemed confused.

  "I'll see you on Monday then. I love you." I leaned over and pulled the door shut. I took my eyes off her for just a second as I glanced over my shoulder before backing up. When I looked back, she was gone.

  I took a right up past the Reno Monument—the long way home—I needed some time. Without the radio, there was just the drone of the tires on the road and what sounded like an exhaust leak. "Vampiress," I said out loud. Maybe I shouldn't have told her I figured it out. There was no denying she wasn't happy that I knew. Still, there was that incredible moment when I though we were going to—and maybe she was going to—but she definitely didn't want me to be like her. I guess that was selfish on my part. I'd make a great vampire, though. Heck, I already knew how to hunt. Maybe the whole come clean about knowing, and how I felt about her was a mistake. "No way." I hit the steering wheel. After she knew I loved her there was that beautiful moment in the Jeep. I glanced down at the passengers seat remembering her reach across me, her hand against my chest, her cool lips pressed against mine. No, I'd done the right thing and it was all going to work out. I pulled into my driveway and shut off the engine. Our goodbyes, or lack of goodbyes, worried me. I didn't see it at the time, but now it seemed like maybe there was more to it. I shouldn't worry, I told myself. We were in love and it had been a big night. We were both just stressed. A chill ran down my spine. Yeah, I'd be lucky if I didn't get sick as a dog.

  "How'd it go?" Mom said as I opened the back door. "What happened, you're soaking wet?"

  "Yeah, well it kind of rained."

  "You didn't keep her out in the weather, I hope. The poor girl is so petite she'd catch her death."

  "No Mom, she's not going to 'catch her death', I promise." There was a certain irony to saying that. "We had a nice time."

  "That's wonderful. I'm so happy for you. Now you get yourself upstairs and take a hot shower." She marched me over to the laundry room. "Leave your wet things here and I'll get them washed."

  "Not tonight, Mom, they'll keep till tomorrow."

  "For goodness sake, young man, I changed your diapers." She stomped off up the stairs, but stopped at the top. "I'm glad you had a nice time tonight. Night."

  "Night, Mom." I waited until she was in her room, and took off my wet clothes. The shower was the next best thing to being with Izzy, and I stayed until the hot water turned tepid. Once in bed, I laid back, folded my hands behind my head, and thought about Izzy and our incredible night.

  Mom and I went to church on Sunday—like we always did—but it was really different for me. Knowing what I did about Izzy, I figured if vampires were real, then maybe so was God, something I'd given up on since we lost Dad. The rest of the day, Mom bugged me about why I wasn't with Izzy. After dinner, I spent some time hanging around the creek, hoping she might show up.

  I pulled into the parking lot at school early on Monday, anxious to see Izzy. Her car wasn't there, so I hung around to wait for her. When the guys showed up, they more or less dragged me into the school. We were all high fives and the conversations always centered around the game. Even Derrick said I did decent, and Andy got an offer to come to tryouts from the scout even though he couldn't play. Guess the guy had seen enough before his injury. Except for Izzy not being there, it was a great morning.

  "Hey, guys," I said, sitting down at the lunch table with Alex and Cathy.

  "Where's Izzy?" Cathy said before I could ask her.

  "I'm not sure."

  "Alex said you all had your own dance. You didn't get her sick, did you?"

  "I mean, yeah, we got wet, but I got her—" I stopped without saying home, because I didn't take her home. She hadn't let me.

  "Hey," Lisa said, walking up behind me, "How'd it go?"

  "It was great, about the lights, though, it rained, and well they shorted out."

  "At just the right time I hope." She glanced over her shoulder. "I'll be right there," she called to one of her friends, before turning back to me. "Don't worry about the lights, Mom bought a bunch of new stuff for this year, I'm sure Dad won't miss them."

  "Thanks again."

  Alex and Cathy ate quickly and left, hand-in-hand. I didn't mind being alone, I felt alone without Izzy anyway. The hype about the game died down by the time lunch was over, so the walk to History was a quiet one.

  "So," Cathy said from behind the half-door to the art supply room where she aided for Mrs. Snyder, "tell me all about it."

  "It was nice, except for the rain."

  "Nice? Is that all you have to say, nice. What happened?"

  "Didn't she call you?" I asked, not really wanting to talk about it. "That's what girls do, right?"

  "I don't think she has a phone, so no."

  "Cathy," Mrs. Snyder called. "Can you help Margaret with the mat-board cutter?"

  "Sure," Cathy replied, and then turned back to me. "I'm sure she's probably just sick or something. She'll be back tomorrow." She headed off to help Margaret.

  Coach gave us a nice pep talk and said how proud he was, especially the way we came together as a team, but reminded us we still had one more game to go. Being a Monday, we watched game films and got a chance to relive the excitement with commentary from Coach. The rest of practice was light. I kept looking over toward the fence, hoping to see Izzy, but she never showed. Even when practice was over, I half expected to find her waiting for me in the Jeep.

  As I drove home, I began to think about what Cathy said, and yeah, while Izzy couldn't actually be sick, it was an eye-opening night so maybe she was just a little overwhelmed. While all this was going through my head, I apparently wasn't paying attention to where I was going until I realized I was headed up the street in front of Izzy's. I quickly pulled off the road before I got too close. As fate would have it, it was the exact place I dropped her off. I shut the engine off and just sat there.

  'Okay,' I said to myself, 'what are you doing? I mean seriously dude, it's only been two days.

  Yeah, but after what we said to one another it might as well be two weeks, and that just isn't right.

  So, what are you going to do, march up to the door of a house full of vampires and ask for her? Vampires Izzy said I didn't want to tempt, I'll remind you.'

  While I was going round and round, talking to myself, I suddenly noticed the pulsing red light from the tower at the top of the mountain—the sun had gone down.

  'So what's it going to be big guy? You going to just sit here, moping, or are you going up there and find out what's really going on?'

  I reached down, started the Jeep
, and flipped on the headlights. I drove to the entrance to her property—it couldn't really be called a driveway, it was more like two ruts across a field—and turned in, but as soon as I did, I slammed on the brakes.

  "So what's it going to be?" I mumbled.

  I need to trust her. I backed out and drove home.

  I tried to chill—give her space, but nothing had changed by Friday. A day or two was crazy, a week, insane! I had to find out what was wrong, if she was okay.

  "Hi," Cathy said, sitting down next to me at the lunch table.

  "Hey. Where's Alex?"

  "He said he had a test, I guess they ran over. You okay?"

  "I guess, I just really miss her. I'm trying to be patient, but—"

  "Then you haven't heard?"

  "Heard what?" I glanced up as Alex joined us.

  "Whew, that was the hardest test ever." I didn't miss his glare at Cathy. "I thought we agreed you weren't going to say anything?" he half whispered at her.

  "He should know."

  "Fine, but couldn't it have waited till after the game."

  "What's up guys?" I interrupted.

  "Go ahead, you stepped in it," Alex said, "but if we lose because—"

  Cathy scooted closer to me and whispered. "My mom works in the office and she told me Izzy's Mom called and said she was withdrawing Izzy from school."

  I was stunned—heart broken. Had Izzy done the unthinkable?

  "Wish my mom would withdraw me," Alex said. "After football season," he added.

  Cathy punched him and then turned to me. "What happened?"

  I just shook my head, unable to speak.

  "See, I told you to wait till after the game. If we lose—"

  "It's just a football game," Cathy said, closing the subject.

  This couldn't be happening. It had to be a mistake. There had to be something I could do. She wouldn't just leave. We loved each other. I had to do something. I felt my pocket. The keys were there and without looking back, I got up and headed toward the parking lot. Alex made it out the front door as I drove away.

  I wasn't going to talk myself out of it this time. I pulled in out front of Izzy's house and jumped out. I was halfway up the front steps when the door opened and a beautiful woman dressed in some sort of civil war era dress stepped out on the front porch. I stopped in my tracks.

  She scrutinized me carefully.

  "Is she here?" I blurted out.

  She looked down her nose at me. "You are?"

  "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude, but I've been worried sick about her. I'm Jason."

  "The boy from the drawing," she observed. "I'm Elizabeth."

  "Her mother."

  She just smiled.

  "Would you please tell her I'm here?"

  "I'm afraid that's impossible."

  I slumped against the railing. "She won't see me?"

  Elizabeth walked to the front door and opened it. "Now I'm being rude, would you care to join us in the parlor?"

  I probably should have thought twice before I walked into a house full of vampires, but I didn't hesitate. Elizabeth closed the door behind me. It was dark inside and it took my eyes a moment to adjust. The furniture was still draped with sheets. I hesitated.

  "Please," Elizabeth said, motioning toward a smaller room through an archway to the right.

  While I walked toward the uncovered sofa, she opened the shades, flooding the far end of the room with the afternoon sun. As my eyes adjusted again, I heard footsteps and turned toward the archway. Three young men—that looked like they'd stepped off the pages of our history book—walked into the room. The one with a full handlebar mustache walked over to Elizabeth.

  "This is my husband, Benjamin," Elizabeth said. He nodded. "These are our sons, Nathan and Tolliver. Where's Mel—"

  "Here I am," another young woman dressed similarly to Elizabeth said, stepping out from behind the two boys. "I'm Melanie, you must be Jason."

  "Uh, yeah. I mean, yes ma'am."

  "Please, make yourself comfortable," Elizabeth offered.

  "Thank you." I sat down on the edge of the sofa. It was hard to believe I was sitting in a room with five vampires. It crossed my mind, I might not be leaving.

  Melanie sat down on the shaded end of the sofa. "When did you last see her?"

  "We went on a date last Saturday night."

  "Saturday night, after the football game?" Elizabeth asked, glancing accusingly toward her sons.

  "Yes. I drove her home, but she had me drop her off down the road a little ways. She said she didn't want to tempt you." Okay, that was awkward and I probably told them more than I intended.

  Elizabeth addressed her family. "Did any of you see Izzy Saturday evening?"

  "She was wearing a red top, with jeans, they were wet—" I stopped realizing the absurdity of describing her to them.

  "Wet?" Tolliver chuckled.

  "I'm sorry. I thought she was fine. We had a great time. We talked, danced, you know, like that."

  "Swimming?" Tolliver added.

  "Yeah, well that was an accident. She was happy when we left. I guess I should have figured something was wrong when she got quiet on the way home."

  Melanie stood and it definitely felt like a signal the conversation was over. "Did she mention anything about where she might go?"

  "No, I mean, if I knew she was thinking about leaving, I would have gone with her." There eyes—honey colored like Izzy's—glanced quickly between one another. Elizabeth extended her arm to direct me toward the door. The conversation was definitely over, but I knew no more than when I got there. "You don't know where she is, do you?"

  Elizabeth answered, her tone indicating that it was for everyone. "I'm afraid not."

  "I know she was interested in her childhood, she wanted to find where she grew up?"

  Elizabeth's scowl toward Benjamin was unmistakable.

  "No one knows," Melanie answered tersely, despite Elizabeth's glare.

  I'd already over stayed my welcome but, for some reason, I knew I shouldn't tell them about the mountains we'd drawn. "Well, umm, before I go you should know that Izzy and I were honest with each other."

  "Is that so," Elizabeth said.

  "So, I know about her, and I guess that means the rest of you—you don't have to worry, your secret is safe with me. Uh, so I guess that's it. Nice meeting you all, I wish it could have been under better circumstances."

  Melanie and Elizabeth walked me to the door as if I hadn't just told them I knew their secret.

  "She'll be okay," Melanie whispered.

  "I hope so. I don't know what I'd do without her."

  "You should consider that," Elizabeth said. "Good day." The door closed behind me.

  On the way back to school, I kept wondering why the Faulkner's weren't looking for Izzy. Were they just going to right her off, just like that? There was the draped furniture; maybe they were all going to disappear. I didn't care, just not Izzy. I couldn't endure never seeing her again. "I can't," I mumbled as I pulled into an open parking spot. "I won't."

  I slipped into Art unnoticed and got to work.

  "Jason, I didn't see you come in," Mrs. Snyder said.

  "Yeah, I kind of got hung up in the bathroom between classes."

  She looked down at my drawing. "I suppose you've heard?"

  "Yeah."

  "I'm sure it's difficult for you, I'm sorry."

  I just nodded, not trusting my voice.

  "The eyes are a little dark, I think." She backed away and then went to help someone else.

  I looked down at yet another drawing of Izzy. Her eyes were dark, but they got like that. The more I stared at her picture, the more I was sure I had to do something, I couldn't be that guy—the one who gets dumped and has no idea why, and then doesn't do anything about it. I had to know what happened and fix it, but there were so many obstacles; school, the game, money. Not to mention, I had no idea where to start.

  "Hey Cathy, got a second?"

  "Sure,
what's up?"

  "Are any of Izzy's drawings in the back?"

  "Sure."

  "Mind if I have a look?"

  We both looked up to find Mrs. Snyder. She was busy behind an easel with another student.

  "Wait here." Cathy raced off to the supply room and returned with a handful of drawings. She slid them onto my table. "They're mostly of the same thing—well the same two things, you and the mountains."

  I couldn't help smile at the drawing of me sitting on top of the stack. I pushed it aside to a picture of mountains, the same ones we'd worked on in the Jeep that night. Pushing back the edges of the remaining pictures, I realized, like Cathy had said, they were mostly the mountains and even when they weren't, the outline of the mountains was still there, somewhere in the picture.

  "They're wonderful, aren't they?" Mrs. Snyder said, looking over our shoulders.

  "I thought you wouldn't mind," Cathy said apologetically.

  "No, of course not, but you should have asked. She was quite a talent. I'm sure you both miss her."

  "You mind if I keep one?" I asked hesitantly.

  "Of course not, the two of you were probably closest to her. I'm sure she wouldn't mind. Besides, Mrs. Hall said her mother didn't want any of her work."

  "Maybe we could put some of her work on display," Cathy suggested.

  "Jason?" Mrs. Snyder questioned. "Is that alright with you?"

  All the talk of Izzy, as though she were gone forever, got to me. "It's not like she's dead," I snapped. I stood, pulled out my cell phone and took two quick pictures of her mountains. "I've got what I need, you can toss them—keep them—display them—whatever." I glanced up at the clock. "It's time for the bell. I have to get to practice." I stormed off.

  "He's taking it hard." I heard Cathy tell Mrs. Snyder.

  It was Friday, the last night game to close the season, a season where the only real highlight was the homecoming victory. Practice was light, basically a walk through, and it was a good thing. I really sucked. I just couldn't concentrate. Coach barked at me a few times, even made me run a lap, but I knew he was just trying to get me focused. Finally, practice was over and we headed for the locker room with an hour to kill before the game.

  "Jason," Coach called from his office. "Got a minute?"

  I saw Alex duck behind the lockers. "Yeah, sure Coach."

  He closed the door when I got inside his office. "Have a seat."

  Great, Alex squealed, I thought. "What's up?"

  "Listen son, word out there is you're having some relationship issues, that true?"

  "Coach, I don't want to talk—"

  "I understand that, son, but we've got to get you focused on the game."

  "Coach, ever get in one of those situations where no matter what you do, you can't win?" I continued without waiting for an answer. "No matter what I do, it isn't right."

  "We're not talking about the game are we?"

  I glanced up expecting a scowl, but his eyes showed real concern. "No, we're not. You know Izzy's gone?"

  "Yeah, I heard she withdrew. Sorry to see her go. She had a lot of spunk, that one."

  "It was my fault."

  "Your fault?"

  I just started talking—it just spilled out. "We went on a date after the game, and we told each other we were in love and it rained. We got all muddy. Then we swam in the creek. I was freezing. We kissed, and I took her home except she didn't go home, and her parents—" I realized I'd said too much.

  "Her parents don't know where—"

  "No, no, nothing like that. It's just they're keeping her away from me."

  "You didn't—"

  "No, Coach. I'm not like that."

  "I didn't think so. I'm not sure what you think I can do, son."

  "I need to find her, to talk to her, to explain, but if I—"

  "Slow down, slow down," he said raising his hands. "Take it one step at a time."

  "Okay." I took a breath. "If I go look for her, I'll miss school, leave my mom alone, maybe screw up my whole future, but if I don't find her, my future is screwed anyway. I can't win."

  "Listen son, sometimes things in life just don't line up right. Now, I'm sure this isn't as bad as you think, but you've got to do what you think is right, you know, go with your gut. You're a good kid, talk to your mother. I'm sure she'll help you figure it all out. For now, focus on what's in front of you. You'd be surprised how the other stuff kind of falls in place when you focus on the present. Why I remember a freshman running back a few years ago, I'm here to tell you he could just sense an opening..."

  And the conversation went back to football. I knew what I had to do now. I think I always knew. I just couldn't face the consequences, but consequences be damned. I had to find Izzy.

  "...So you see son, you've got to take things one step at a time."

  "Thanks, Coach. I'll be fine. We can take these guys."

  "That's the spirit. Now get out there and get those boys fired up."

  We came out strong and jumped out to an early lead—I think we surprised them and truthfully, we were still running off the adrenalin from last week's Home Coming victory. They made a strong run to start the second half, but we held on to win. There was lots of celebrating—for me, I felt like at least I didn't let the team down. I wasn't sad or angry—except of course that Izzy wasn't there—it just didn't mean anything without her, and I was going to do something about that. I walked past Coach's office on the way out.

  "Nice game, son. You really pulled it together for the team."

  "Thanks, and thanks for the advice earlier."

  "That's what coaching is all about. See you Monday."

  "I don't think so," I half mumbled.

  It almost looked like he smiled. "Going to take care of that other situation then?"

  "Yeah, it's something I have to do."

  "Well, good for you. Remember son, go with your gut and don't look back."

  "Thanks."

  "Hope I see you back for next season. I can respect a guy who knows what he wants. Good luck."

  I walked out of the school for what seemed like the last time and set my focus on what was important, Izzy.