These Starcrossed Lives of Ours

by Linski, Megan

  “You’re hardly a charity case, after fixing up my entire house,” he chuckled, and his anger dissolved. “Okay, I’m with you. There’s an opening for a lunch lady position up at the school. This town is all about connections, and because I know you you’re pretty much a shoe-in for the job. That is, as long as you don’t mind doing a little bit of hard work.”

  Being a lunch lady was cake compared to being a murderer for Annabelle. “No, I don’t mind. Do you want me to get that job because you can keep an eye on me?” I asked.

  “That, and it’s the only one available. This is Manchester. The only other opening anywhere else is...well, nowhere. Unless you’d like to work in Ann Arbor or something.”

  “No thank you,” I said quickly. I didn’t like this little town, but it was better than exposing myself to the surrounding area. I hesitated before asking the next question. “Since we’re going to be living together for a bit longer than I intended, I’d like to know something.”

  “What is it?” he smiled, leaning forward.

  “How did you even find me that night in Ann Arbor?” I asked. “That part of town was deserted, and it was dark. The chances of you stumbling into me were near to none.”

  “You’re actually talking. Funny, I couldn’t get a word out of you before,” he said.

  “That was different. I was going to leave as soon as I could. Now I’m stuck with you.”

  “You were going to leave? So quickly?” his face fell.

  “It was just business. Don’t take it personally.”

  He still looked hurt. I coughed and said, “You still haven’t answered my question. What were you doing out so late at night?”

  Ian scratched his head. “A couple of my friends had dragged me along to some crazy nightclub. It wasn’t even midnight and all of them were stone drunk. They ditched me and I couldn’t find them, so I was walking back to my truck to go home. I found you on the sidewalk, and noticed that you were moving. I was going to call 911, but you were mumbling something and I bent down to listen. And then came the famous no hospital line.” He frowned.

  “What was I saying?” I asked, confused.

  “Annabelle,” he said. “I don’t know what that means.”

  My throat constricted. “It was somebody I knew as a kid,” I lied. “I don’t know why I was saying her name.”

  “You were out of it. You could have been yapping about flying monkeys and it would’ve made just as much sense,” he said.

  I pushed my plate away. “Ready to go?” I asked, standing up.

  “Yeah.” Ian paid the bill and then held the door open for me both when we went outside and when I got in the car. “Chivalry does live,” I said, shaking my head.

  “I’m old-fashioned, so sue me,” he said. “My dad beat it into me. Not literally,” he said as he saw the look on my face.

  He backed up, went a couple yards down the street, and parked in back of the apartment. As we got out I stretched and said, “Wow. What a long car ride.”

  “Oh I know,” he said. “I need some mental stimulation. What do you say we go upstairs and play some checkers?”

  I snorted. “Yeah, sure, why not. Gives me a chance to kick your butt again.”

  “Uh, I don’t think so,” Ian said skeptically. “I’m beating you this time.”

  “Sure you are.” Ian held open the door for me once again. But before I could go inside, something black flashed out of the corner of my eye. I whipped around to scan the area, but saw nothing.

  I tried to tell myself that I was being paranoid. There was nowhere to hide here. She was fast but surely not that fast...

  “Something wrong?” Ian said.

  I scanned the perimeter once more before stepping inside. “Just my mind playing tricks on me, it’s nothing. Come on. I think a game of checkers is just what I need.”

  Sure enough I got the job. It wasn’t easy, but I was usually so busy that I didn’t have time to think of Annabelle. Between making lunch, serving all the kids and cleaning up afterwards, I was dead on my feet by 3. Ian noticed how tired I was when he came down from his office to pick me up and immediately was concerned.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t take on so many hours,” he said. “Full time with your health isn’t good.”

  “My health is fine,” I snapped back. “And I need the money.” More than that, I needed something to do. I had nothing left to patch up in the apartment, and if I stayed inside constantly I would lose my mind.

  “You know, there’s a woman who sews who needs someone to make a backing for her quilt, since she only wants to do the top,” Ian said offhandedly. “I know you sew, so I told her about your skills.”

  “You like bragging about me, huh?” I smiled.

  “Actually, I talk about you all the time,” he said. “The staff is starting to think I’ve got a little crush on you.”

  “Yeah right, like that’s ever going to happen,” I said laughing. “We’re just roommates.”

  “Friends,” Ian demanded, looking at me. “But anyway, she asked if you would do that for her. She’d pay you a hundred bucks.”

  So I made a little bit of extra income that way, taking small sewing jobs for people Ian knew. The first few weeks of November passed by in a whirlwind, and by the time I had finally begun to settle into the sway of things Manchester had come up with yet another celebration.

  “What is that?” I asked as we passed a Christmas tree shaped sign on the way home, the leaves not even off the trees yet.

  “Christmas in the Village,” Ian said offhandedly. “It’s this weekend.”

  “Who holds...what is it...Christmas in the Village in November?” I asked, confused.

  “The same people who hold Oktoberfest in September,” Ian informed me. “I don’t ask questions anymore, I just go with it.”

  “You don’t sound thrilled,” I noted.

  “It’s alright. But it’s sort of the same thing every year. I almost get tired of it. Do you want to go?”

  I didn’t really, but by the hopeful gleam in Ian’s eye I could tell he wanted me to say yes. One thing was for sure, I had to try and fit into this town more. I was quiet while working at the school, and had already been deemed as a bit of an outcast. I really needed to immerse myself in the...Manchester culture, as I called it.

  “I’ll go,” I said. “It’s right in town, so I might as well.”

  “You’ll be disappointed,” Ian said, but he couldn’t hide the light coming from his face. Without warning, he made an unexpected turn and began driving in the opposite direction.

  “Uh, where are you going?” I asked, looking around.

  “I feel like going to see a movie,” he said.

  “Spontaneous,” I said, amused. Was seeing a movie safe? Annabelle and the gang rarely visited the theaters. Too costly for all of us, and we couldn’t all fit in one vehicle, not to mention the fact that Annabelle thought movies were a waste of time. You couldn’t talk anyone into joining the group with the lights down and with silence a rule. I decided that since the cult thought I was dead and that I knew Landon wouldn’t give me away, it was worth taking a chance to enjoy myself for once in my life. I hadn’t seen a film in years. “What movie do you want to see?” I asked, turning to Ian.

  “Whatever one you want,” he said, winking at me. I rolled my eyes with a small laugh.

  “You’re ridiculous,” I said. “I don’t even know what’s playing.”

  “Fine. We’ll pick when we get there.” Ian amped up the truck and soon we were cruising down the road at a speed that I didn’t know Ian was possible of driving. “Sure you don’t want to slow down there, Tex?” I asked.

  “You mean speed up?” Ian stomped on the accelerator and the car started flying. For the first time there seemed to be a fire in Ian’s eyes, and it looked like he was close to losing it, but in a good way. I had never seen him like this...he always seemed controlled, but now it was like the devil had been let out of his cage.

  “Uh, we just
passed the road,” I said as I watched it whizz by.

  “We’ll take Scio Church then,” Ian shrugged. “It doesn’t matter, tonight we’re gonna have some fun.”

  “Wow, a movie night with the dull roommate. Don’t you have any friends?” I asked sarcastically.

  “Totally. I have tons of friends. Big man on campus? That was me,” Ian said.

  “I haven’t seen any of them,” I said, crossing my arms.

  “Taking care of you is more important,” he said, the joy bursting from his chest. “Besides, they get me once a week at church and the boys...well, I probably shouldn’t be hanging around with them that much anyway. I promised Dad I’d stop drinking so much when I went out.”

  “You drink?” I said, blown away by this statement.

  “It’s Manchester. Everybody drinks. And I used to. I try to party relatively clean now. No more than a beer or two.”

  My respect for Ian both grew and decreased at the same time. This man had more secrets than I realized. As he put the car sideways down Scio Church I held onto the sides of the door and said, “Hey, crazy! Don’t kill us, alright!”

  “You think this is bad?” he asked with a laugh. “You should’ve been with me in my college days.”

  “You obviously have a death wish,” I said.

  “Nah. I just love taking risks.” He whirled down the road until he came to a swampy area, one where I had seldom been to but remembered passing every now and then.

  “Look!” I said. I pointed out two beautiful white swans sitting by the side of the road, cars passing them by inches. Next to them were three gray signets, all puffed up around their parents.

  “Somebody’s going to hit them! Honk your horn!” I said as we passed.

  “Tried. It doesn’t work, they just ignore you. I once saw some old guy get really close to them and take pictures.”

  “I wouldn’t do that. Swans are vicious.”

  “Yeah. But they’re gorgeous. They migrated here after somebody hit the other two.”

  “What?” I said, my smile turning into a frown.

  “Yeah. Somebody ran them and a baby over early in the morning a few years back.” Ian shook his head. “It was quiet for about a year and then these newcomers moved in.”

  “Somebody will come along and get them, too,” I said, worried.

  “Maybe. But I hope not.” Once we were past the swans Ian began driving like a maniac once again, and I did my best to hold on for dear life.

  “Would you slow down?” I said. “Before you get us both killed?”

  “Why, you mean like this?” Ian swerved the truck to the right and I went flying. When he wrenched it back over I found myself falling against him, my body pressed into his side.

  “Oops,” he smiled. “Didn’t mean to do that.”

  I pushed away from him, fixing my hair. “Uh huh. I bet you’ve done that with all the girls you’ve ever tried to date.”

  “Not all,” he said with a laugh. “Just most of them.”

  “Did it ever work?” I said smugly.

  The smile fell from his face. “Well, no. Not when Macy broke her nose against my window.”

  I broke out laughing. “You broke a girl’s nose?”

  “I didn’t mean to, I was just trying to show off. I was sixteen,” he said, scratching the back of his head.

  “And what did she do then?”

  “She uh...demanded I take her to see a doctor, then told everyone about it at school. I didn’t get a girlfriend for about a year after that.”

  “I’m surprised you got one at all, after that got around Manchester,” I said.

  He let out a long sigh. “Sometimes I wish I hadn’t.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” I said playfully, punching him in the shoulder.

  He smiled, although it was more of a grimace. “Let’s just say we all have one really bad ex.”

  My smile slipped away. “Hell yeah. I know how that feels.”

  As we came up to a well-known road, my heart skipped a beat. “Wait,” I said, and Ian slowed. “Turn here,” I pointed, and Ian did so.

  “This isn’t the way to the movies,” he said, confused.

  “We’re going to be a little late,” I said. “I just need to check something.”

  Ian meandered down the tiny road until I recognized an old rusty mailbox with the same old bent over realtor sign in front of it. “Left,” I said.

  We drove up a curvy path until Ian slowed to a stop in front of an old green farmhouse. As I got out of the car I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. The paint was chipping off, several shingles were missing and the windows were broken, but memory made the place look just as neat and tidy as Grandpa had kept it. The porch had holes in it and was probably crawling with rats, but that didn’t make the place any less special to me. I turned to look at the old white barn and felt even sadder. It looked like the littlest gust of wind would blow it over. The fencing, though red with oxidation, still stood. The grass was up to my stomach in some places, and what used to be the garden was overgrown with weeds. The place had been the subject of many high school pranks over the years, and anything Grandpa had left behind was subject to humiliation. The realtors had obviously stopped trying to sell the place. It was probably abandoned by now, forgotten by the city, my mother...everyone but me.

  “What’s this place?” Ian asked, stepping over a rotting plank of wood.

  “It’s my grandpa’s farm,” I said, putting my hands in my pockets. “Or at least it used to be.”

  “I thought you were a city girl,” Ian said, perplexed.

  I kept walking, closer to the barn. “I am. But every summer my mother would let me come stay with my grandfather, one week out of the year.”

  “Only once a year? But you lived right in Ann Arbor. Why’d she keep you away like that?”

  I let my hand run over the wood of the barn. “My mother was a complicated person. She and grandpa had a...patchy relationship.”

  Ian kicked the ground. “I see.”

  I walked around the barn, to a place that I hoped was still there. “Where are you going?” Ian asked.

  “Don’t ask questions, just come on.” I broke into a run, not caring if I lost Ian or if he couldn’t keep up. I wanted to be alone and stay here for days, just by myself.

  When I stopped I was standing by the edge of a deep, wide pond, circled by pine trees that reached up so high that I swore they were friends with the clouds. The sun was going down, but in this part of November twilight made everything look rather silver, with only the yellow of the sky and the gray and white mists mixing with the sharpness of evergreen. The pool was a rich, dark blue, fish swimming slowly beneath the surface.

  “Jeez you’re fast,” Ian said, gasping for breath. He bent over and leaned on his knees for support. “Whoa,” he said as he looked around. “It’s really pretty here.”

  “Grandpa took me fishing here all the time when I was a kid,” I said, sitting down along the shore. “We’d sit out here for hours and just talk. We never caught anything except for one tiny baby fish. We let it go.”

  “You miss him.” Ian sat down next to me.

  “The fish?”

  “Your grandpa.”

  I looked back up at the pine trees. “Coming here was the only time I ever got to feel like I was a kid. Grandpa would show me the animals, tell me stories, teach me how to sew and cook things. He’d try to teach me how to fix things, too, but I wasn’t very good at it,” I laughed. “We never went into town for anything. I got to stay here and be away from everyone. It was great.”

  “Wasn’t home great?” Ian asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

  “Mom was never home, and neither was my sister. I never knew my dad and I was by myself, save for when somebody needed something. Sometimes I was gone for days and nobody would notice.” I hugged my legs with my arms. “I begged to stay with Grandpa, but my mother wouldn’t let me. I was crushed the day he died. It was my one chance of getting out of there.�
��

  “How old were you?” Ian asked.

  “Sixteen.” And then a few weeks later came Annabelle.

  I looked over at Ian and I was completely blown away. Tears were filling up his blue eyes, and he was blinking slow and steady as if trying to keep them in.

  “Ian...” Forget the swans. Ian’s tear filled blues were prettier than anything I had ever witnessed.

  “It’s fine. No, forget about it. I’m such a softie,” he said, shaking his head and sniffling.

  “No. Nobody has ever actually...cared so much before,” I said. “It really means a lot. Most people tell me to suck it up and walk away.”

  “Is that why you’re so quiet?”

  I picked at a loose thread on my jacket. “I’ve learned to keep my mouth shut over the years. Saves you a lot of trouble.”

  “From who? Your mother? Other people?”

  “Everybody,” I said. “But I’m glad I can talk to you.”

  He beamed. I sighed and said, “I barely feel like I’m a part of life. I’m just...floating.”

  “Why do you wear that necklace?” Ian asked, pointing to the five pointed star. “Did someone you love give it to you?”

  I touched the necklace delicately. “It’s all I have left of my old life.”

  “If you miss it then why did you leave it?”

  I looked up at the silver sky. “I was living my life for all the wrong reasons, doing whatever other people asked no matter how terrible it was.”

  “Why would anybody want to ask you to do something terrible?”

  “There were some people that I knew,” I said slowly. “A cult. They weren’t...normal. The leader did tons of sacrifices and used fear and punishment to control everyone who followed her. If you didn’t do what she said she’d make you do something even more terrible, and if you refused she’d take your life.”