by Joy Elbel
Lucas rolled down the window and shouted over to me. “What’s wrong, Ru?” “That car that just pulled out—that was Drake! He was just at my house!” What reason would he have for being here at Rosewood? Besides kidnapping, torture, and murder—nothing.
“Are you sure?” Lucas asked. “Positive! No one else in town has a car like that. Will you come in with me—just in case?” While I knew that Drake wasn’t lying in wait for me, my brain was now in overdrive imaging that he’d set up some elaborate booby trap to capture me.
“Sure—lead the way.” I pulled back onto the road and down the drive to the mansion. Lucas followed closely, barely a foot away from my back bumper. My wary eyes scanned for hidden dangers but nothing looked out of the ordinary. Still, I stayed on high alert as I approached the house.
The front door was locked—unusual for midafternoon. Shelly was almost always there when I got home from school. I remarked to Lucas that I thought it was odd so when I started to put my key in the lock, he stopped me.
“Here, let me do it. Stand back—just in case.” He put his hand on mine and I let my keys fall into his open palm. Taking several steps back, I watched anxiously as he turned the key slowly. The sound of the lock snapping into place seemed louder than normal, causing me to jump like a scared rabbit. As he pushed the door open, I waited for something to happen. Waited for what, I don’t know. A hatchet to fall down from the top of the doorframe, a shotgun to fire from somewhere within, a knife to plunge into him from around the corner—anything. My former love of scary movies was coming back to haunt me.
Nothing. No hatchet, no shotgun, no knife. Just silence. Aside from the soft ticking of the grandfather clock, no other sounds were audible. Oh my God! What if he’d come here for me but left with Shelly instead? Please let her be okay!
I crept up behind Lucas and put my hand on his back. “Shelly?” I shouted but got no response. Her car was outside—where was she?
We walked down the hallway to Shelly’s office. The door was ajar so Lucas poked his head inside.
“Nothing,” he said shaking his head.
I was starting to get nervous. We checked the kitchen and the upstairs but she was nowhere to be found.
“That’s it—I’m calling the police!” I said as I dug into my bag for my phone. “And what are you going to tell them? My stepmom isn’t home so I think Drake Sterling kidnapped her? You have no evidence—they won’t do anything for at least forty eight hours. Why don’t you call her and see where she is before you panic.”
Excellent idea. One ring. Two rings. Three rings. Shelly’s phone was never far from her side—what was taking her so long to answer? The fourth ring was interrupted by the sound of her voice.
“What’s up, Ruby?” At least I knew one thing for sure—she wasn’t lying dead on the church steps. Her voice seemed normal—not at all what I expected a kidnap victim to sound like.
“Where are you?” My voice, on the other hand, was tinged with panic.
“I’m with your dad. He got off work early so we went out for a late lunch. You sound upset—is something wrong?” Is something wrong? Something was always wrong! She should know that by now! “I was just wondering where you were—that’s all,” I replied casually. “What time will you be home?”
“Soon—so if Zach’s with you, he can’t stay long. Your dad’s using the restroom right now then we’re heading home. You have about twenty minutes tops.”
“Actually, I’m with Lucas. Will Dad blow a gasket if he sees him here, too?” There was no way I was spending twenty minutes alone in that house! There were far too many ways for someone to sneak in.
“No, I think that will be okay.” Then she quickly added, “As long as you’re downstairs and nowhere near each other when we walk in that door. Here comes your Dad—I gotta go. See you in twenty.”
I said my goodbyes and hung up. “She’s out with my dad—everything’s fine. But will you stay here until they get home? I don’t want to be alone.”
“Sure,” Lucas answered. I slid the bolt on the front door and instantly felt more at ease. Whatever—or whoever—Drake was after, he didn’t get what he wanted this time. But coming straight to my house was a bolder move than I’d been anticipating. Killing Portia obviously didn’t curb his blood lust—in fact, it only seemed to make him more eager for his next victim.
Lucas and I had at least twenty minutes to kill so we set up the table for a game of pool. After only five minutes, Lucas had sunk all of his balls while all but one of mine was still standing.
“You suck, Ru!” he said with a smile, “Now I know I taught you better than that.” He had taught me better but I had so many other things on my mind. A ghost was trying to off me and a serial killer was trying to “marry” me. But the biggest thing on my mind was the fact that I had almost kissed Lucas in the bell tower. We hadn’t spoken of the incident at all so I always felt like there was a weird gap between us that neither of us seemed willing to bridge. I couldn’t take it anymore—I had to say something.
“You did. It’s just that I have a lot of other things on my mind.” Floundering for a way to broach the subject, I finally decided to just blurt it out. “If Rachel hadn’t found us when she did, I would have kissed you Sunday night.”
He didn’t even look shocked. “I know,” he said with certainty. He picked up the cue ball and rolled it around in his hand. “Sooner or later, it’s bound to happen. I’ve known that since the day I met you.”
He wasn’t being even slightly cocky about it—he was simply stating a fact. The earth is round, the sky is blue, and someday we’re going to kiss. Simple as that.
Simple my ass! Did he really know what I was feeling inside or was he just guessing? I hated myself for feeling the way I did. When I was with Zach, he was all I could think about. But now when I was alone with Lucas, the same could be said about him. There was a time when Zach seemed like the safe choice—the only choice. But the tables were now turning at a dizzying speed. What was I going to do?
Nothing—at least not at the moment. Shelly’s twenty minute warning was a gross overestimate. My dad’s SUV was idling in front of the house as he let Shelly out before pulling into the garage. She made an unnecessary amount of noise on her way in—probably for my benefit should I be up to no good.
“Ruby! We’re home!” she shouted louder than she would have normally. She would have seen Lucas’s car out front and not Zach’s—what did she think we were doing?
“In here!” I called around the corner. “We’re playing pool!” Shelly joined us, followed moments later by my dad who seemed quite happy to see that my “we” didn’t include Zach. They watched as we finished our game which only took a few more minutes for me to lose miserably again.
“You’re pretty good!” my dad noted. He clearly wasn’t talking to me but it was strange to hear him compliment Lucas like that. Because with all of us in the room together, I felt like I’d gone back in time. Well, sort of.
Dad hated Lee until the day he died but in that moment it felt like Lee was getting a do over. A chance to prove that he wasn’t as bad as my dad thought he was. Lucas wasn’t Lee but the lines between them were blurring quite rapidly.
“Thanks, but I’m sure you’re better. With a table like this in your own home, you must play a lot.” Was it just me or was Lucas trying to suck up to my dad? And if so, why?
“I wish—neither of my girls will play with me.” Dad pouted just a little and I witnessed a spark of bromance brewing between them.
“I’ll play you any time you want, Dr. Matthews. Starting with now.” Lucas was in full out parent pleasing mode. Sparkling smile—check. Addressing my dad formally—check. He even said bless you when Shelly sneezed. I had to hand it to him—he was good.
“Now is perfect!” Dad said as he rolled up his sleeves and grabbed another cue stick from the wall. “But you can call me Jason, by the way.”
Shut the front door! For real? Lee and I had been together for years an
d my dad never would have permitted him to call him by his first name! It was like he had a finite amount of hatred and all of it was currently focused on Zach. I watched in amazement as they proceeded to kiss each other’s asses throughout the game. It was a close match but in the end my dad beat Lucas by sinking the eight ball on some fancy bank shot.
Just when I thought the horrible display was over, Dad racked the balls and announced, “Best out of three?” When Lucas agreed, I decided to take a break from the shameless display of camaraderie to change my clothes.
I was just going to the theater but I picked my outfit carefully. It was like wearing a prom dress to a pig farm but for some reason I wanted to look perfect for tonight. I changed, looked in the mirror, then changed again. Several times. When I finally found the perfect sweater and jeans combo, I returned to the Man Cave expecting them to still be playing pool. I wish. What I walked into was surreal and not at all what I expected.
They were sitting on the couch talking—not about the game but about something more serious. They were discussing college. And not just any college—Trinity College. Lucas had no idea I hadn’t told them about my acceptance letter and it was too late to tell him to keep his mouth shut now. All I could do was stand there and watch my train wreck as it unfolded.
“I’m really excited about heading to Trinity in the fall. The fact that Ruby’s going there too only makes it even better.” Yep, the engine just derailed.
“Ruby? I didn’t know you’d decided on Trinity! That’s a good school—a much better choice than Pendleton. You should be getting your acceptance letter any time now.” Pendleton was every bit the school Trinity was. The only reason Dad cared was because Trinity was in Philadelphia and miles away from where Zach would be.
“Oh, we already got our letters, didn’t we Ruby?” Lucas announced innocently. And there go the next few cars, tumbling off the tracks.
Dad looked at me with disbelief. “You did? Why didn’t you tell me?” After the information Lucas offered, I couldn’t lie about it now. Time to tie myself to the tracks and hope the sparks from the screeching brakes didn’t set me on fire. “Because I hadn’t made up my mind yet.”
“Let me guess—you got into both schools and Zach is trying to convince you to go to Pendleton with him.” Enter the “dad” tone of voice. Disapproving, slightly preachy, and with not so subtle undertones.
He seemed so sure of himself that I got a thrill out of telling him the rest. “No, actually that’s not it at all. I didn’t get accepted to Pendleton because I didn’t apply early enough. So instead, I’ve decided to take the fall semester off and reapply in the spring.”
“You will like hell!” he shouted. “I know what taking a semester off really means! It means that you’ll move in with him and get a job and forget all about school. You’re going to Trinity and that’s final!”
Shelly interjected on my behalf. “Jason, maybe we should talk about this later—give Ruby a chance to explain what she wants to do.”
And I watched as the last few cars and the caboose toppled head first over a ravine. “I’m not going to let her throw away her future over some stupid boy! If he were a real man, he’d refuse to let her do it, too.” And then he stormed off.
But that was the point—Zach didn’t want me to take the semester off either. Telling my dad that would have been useless, though. He only wanted to see the bad in Zach now, not the good. Instead, he wanted to ship me off to Philadelphia with Lucas, his new best friend. I thought time would erase his anger but it didn’t seem to be working out that way.
With rehearsal only an hour away, Lucas announced that he was going to hit the drive thru for a quick bite and I invited myself to go along. I needed to get out of that house before I exploded. Shelly whispered, “I’m sorry” as I put on my jacket but I just nodded. Dad was being such a jerk about everything—why couldn’t he just listen to me like Shelly did? Maybe I wasn’t technically an adult yet but I certainly wasn’t a child either. Some decisions were mine to make now—not his. Why couldn’t he just accept that?
As we pulled out of the drive thru, I asked Lucas for a favor. “Would you mind swinging by the shelter for a minute? I want to let Zach know what just happened.”
“Sure. It’s the least I can do since it was all my fault. I had no idea you didn’t tell them yet!” “That’s okay. It had to come out at some point, I guess. He probably would have been even more of a hard ass if you hadn’t been there to soften the blow.”
Lucas put a handful of fries on a napkin and placed them in his lap, eating them as he drove. “I don’t want to sound like I’m taking sides here but your dad is kinda right. When people take a semester off, they usually don’t go back. Have you thought about doing your first semester at Trinity and then transferring?”
No, I hadn’t but it definitely was an option. On the upside, my dad would have nothing to be pissed about. I could say I gave Trinity a shot but didn’t like it there—simple as that. On the downside, Zach and I would be separated by hundreds of miles for four solid months. It would get awfully lonely with me in Philly and him in Ohio. But I would have Lucas to rely on so the time would pass quicker, wouldn’t it? It was an idea worthy of some thought.
“I didn’t think of that option. It’s a good suggestion. I’ll keep that in mind,” I said as we pulled into the shelter’s drive. “Wait here—I’ll be back in a minute.”
I found Zach with Andy in the back and motioned for him to come out and talk to me privately. Andy looked surprised to see me so I assumed that he was aware of my punishment. Of course! Dad probably asked him to make sure I wasn’t hanging out there with Zach. I had to make our conversation brief.
Quickly, I explained Drake’s mysterious stop at the mansion and what happened afterward. Then I told him about Lucas’s idea of transferring to Pendleton after one semester.
“Drake stopped here earlier, too. He was looking for Andy. When I told him that Andy would only be gone for a few minutes, Drake said he’d catch him later. The funny thing was he passed Andy’s car on the way out and didn’t even flag him down. He just hauled ass out of here.”
Drake knew that Zach would be at the shelter. And normally, where you found Zach, you found me. He was actively stalking me now—there was no other explanation for it.
I noticed that Zach never responded to the idea of me spending a semester at Trinity so I coaxed him into the conversation. “One semester at Trinity wouldn’t be that bad, I guess. We really wouldn’t have to wait that much longer to be together—just a few more months.”
Zach nodded his head. “If it will make your dad happy, then maybe it’s not a bad idea. I’ll just worry about you being out there all alone. You never know what kind of new ghost activity you might find there.”
“Well, that’s the great part, actually. I wouldn’t be alone—Lucas is going to Trinity, too.” No reaction. He should be happy that I would have someone to look after me. Or upset that I would be spending so much time with Lucas. Either way, I should have seen some sort of emotion from him. So why didn’t I?
“Just be careful at the theater tonight, okay?” he said as he got into his car.
“Okay,” I muttered with tears ready to spill from my eyes. And then he drove away. I stood there stunned as the snow drifted around my feet. Both boys had a place in my life—Lucas for his link to my past, Zach for his link to my future. Or was it the other way around? Either way, it was becoming quite clear that I couldn’t hold on to both of them for very much longer.
31. Deconstruction
I endured a stern and lengthy lecture/warning from Lucas before he would allow me to enter the Bantam. He threatened to drag me home kicking and screaming if I disobeyed him. Although his threat was meant to be taken seriously, I couldn’t hold back the laughter.
“I’m serious, Ru! If you wander off again tonight, I will find you and carry you out of there. You shouldn’t be laughing—you know what could potentially happen.”
“Okay! I
won’t. And I do take this seriously—I just find the idea of you picking me up and carrying me out hysterical.”
“What? Don’t you think I can do it?” he taunted as we got out of the car. “Actually, no,” I replied. Lucas wasn’t made of muscle like Zach was. I wasn’t exactly calling him a pussy. Okay, maybe I was—but not in a mean way. He just didn’t have the same strength and build that Zach had and he never would. Lucas looked more like an artist or a songwriter—someone who could lift your soul but never your physical body.
“Think again!” he shouted as he swooped around the front of the car and grabbed me around the thighs. Before I knew it, he had hoisted me over his shoulder and was carrying me down the sidewalk.
“Lucas!” I giggled as I beat my fists against his back. “You win! Put me down!” “No, if I’m going to be your bodyguard, I guess I need to prove my skills to you.” He tightened his grip and kept walking.
He carried me the whole way to the theater door before finally putting me down. As I fixed my hair and adjusted my sweater, Rachel approached. She gave me a cool “hello”, glared at Lucas and proceeded into the theater. I knew she was pissed that I was spending more time with Lucas than I was with her brother but I couldn’t explain the reason why. I loved Rachel but I didn’t trust her not to share my suspicions with Boone. So until this whole thing was over, she was just going to have to be mad at me.
Rehearsal went off without a hitch. The theater, however, looked worse than ever. A black mold now covered the ceiling and was peeling wallpaper. creeping downward onto the badly The lights were dimmer and the
floorboards felt like they were ready to give under my weight. The entire building seemed to sigh like a dying man exhaling his last breath. There were only a few weeks left until opening night—if the theater lasted that long.
On the way home, my phone buzzed with a new text. I expected it to be Zach making sure that I was still okay. Imagine my shock and disappointment to find out that it wasn’t from him, it was from Rita.
