PANDORA

by Rebecca Hamilton

  “You’re being pretty obvious,” Bianca whispered, causing me to turn back around.

  “I’m going to the restroom,” I said, ignoring her comment. I needed to get some air, and maybe I hoped Nathan was as aware of me as I was of him and would follow me.

  The hall was nearly empty. Only a few staff members milled about with their rolling trash bins and brooms, wasting time until another movie ended. I paused for a moment, waiting to see if Nathan had followed me, but the door stayed closed, so I headed into the restroom.

  When I came out a few minutes later, he was there and I instantly felt nervous and jittery, unsure of what to say. It didn’t help that he was wearing his hot date outfit - black jeans and a vintage Green Day shirt. He’d worn the same thing on our first date.

  “Hey,” I said, stopping in front of him.

  “Hey. I got your message, but I was at work.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and scuffed his sneaker along the carpet. “I was gonna call you back, but I figured I’d just see you here.”

  “Oh.”

  “But you didn’t come over when I saw you inside.”

  “Inside. When you were with Vivian.”

  “Phoebe, I’m not dating Vivian. I already told you I wasn’t interested in getting back with her. It was supposed to be just the guys from the team, but a couple of them invited their girlfriends and well, somehow Vivian ended up coming. I didn’t know until we got here.”

  I started to say something, but my pocket began to vibrate. Pulling it out, I saw Tonya’s name flashing on the screen and pressed decline, sending her to voice mail, then I shoved it back in my pocket.

  “I know. That you’re not here with Vivian, I mean. I just really didn’t want to get to risk getting into it with her again. My dad would totally flip if I ended up in another fight. And-” My cell started up again, cutting off my words. I yanked it back out. “It’s Tonya, just let me get rid of her, or she’ll keep bugging me.”

  I flipped it open, but before I could even say hi, I could hear her crying.

  “Tonya? What’s wrong?”

  “Phoebe. Oh God! I made a mistake. Can you come get me?”

  “Where are you? What’s going on?” Panic started to set in as her sobs pulsed through me.

  “I-I just want to go home.”

  “Tonya, calm down. Where are you?”

  “I’m-” Her words ended when the phone went dead.

  “Holy shit, holy shit.” I fumbled around trying to pull up her number, until Bianca’s demonstration from earlier popped in. I jammed my finger onto the number one and held it until the line began to ring.

  “What’s going on?” Nathan asked as I waited for her to pick up.

  “I don’t know. She was hysterical, said she needed me to come get her then the line went dead. Shit, shit, shit.”

  “Hello?” Tonya’s voice quavered through the phone.

  “Where are you? I’ll come get you right now.”

  “Oh, I’m fine.”

  Liar.

  “Tonya, where are you?” I swallowed past the bile that crept up my throat from my churning stomach.

  “I’m sorry I called you. Gran and I had a fight.”

  Liar. My stomach cramped.

  “Where are you?”

  “Don’t worry about me. I gotta go, okay? I’ll call you later.” Again the line went dead.

  I called her back, waiting while it rang twice and then went to voice mail. I tried again and this time it went directly to her mailbox. Her phone was off. And I started to panic. “Her phone’s off. I don’t know what to do. She said she had a fight with her gran and that she’s fine, but I know she’s lying. She wouldn’t tell me where she was.”

  “Calm down and just takes a moment to think. Where could she be?”

  “I don’t know! She was supposed to be home, but I know she’s not!”

  “Okay, so let’s call there. I know you say she’s lying, but let’s just double check. Maybe she’s there, and wants to leave, or at least her gran might know where she is.” He took the phone from me and within seconds, he had it ringing. Someone must have answered, because he started talking. “Hi, can I speak to Tonya? Oh, okay. Do you know which one? Thank you.”

  “She’s not there, is she?” I asked as he handed the phone back to me.

  “Her grandma said she was with you at the movies. Where else would she go? If she’s not with you or at home, then where?” He guided me over to a bench where I sat and he crouched in front of me. I could see his father, and his police officer training, in Nathan, taking charge, being the calm one, thinking logically. “Is there some place she wouldn’t tell you about going?”

  “Nowhere! I mean...Oh God, she wouldn’t...” My lips couldn’t form the horrible idea that came to mind.

  “Wouldn’t what?”

  “Trevor.” My stomach lurched at the idea of her going to see him.

  “Okay, let’s call him. If she’s there we’ll go get her.”

  “I don’t have his number. I deleted everything about that asswipe after what he did.”

  “I might still have it.” Nathan pulled out his phone. “Yeah, here. Do you want me to do it?”

  “Yes. No, wait! He might lie. If he lies to me I’ll know it.”

  “Phoebs, you gotta be nice. If you’re rude he may just hang up.” He handed me the phone and I took a deep breath then pressed the send button.

  “Hello?” The sound of Trevor’s voice drove a nasty chill down my spine.

  “Hey, Trevor. This is Tonya’s friend Phoebe.”

  “What do you want?” His dislike of me was obvious, and I struggled to stay pleasant. Not the easiest thing to do when my skin crawled at even the sound of his name.

  “I just got a really weird call from Tonya and wondered if you’d heard from her?”

  “No.”

  Liar. A vicious cramp seized me and I took another deep breath, willing it to pass.

  “So she didn’t come over to your place or anything?”

  “No.”

  This time when my stomach clenched I gagged as a massive wave of nausea hit me.

  “Okay, thanks.” I hung up, threw the phone at Nathan, and then raced for the restroom. I barely made it to the toilet before emptying my stomach. Once the shaking stopped, I went to the sink and quickly rinsed my mouth out. Nathan was still waiting when I came out and Bianca and Owen were with him.

  “I went and grabbed them while you were...” He motioned to the restroom and I nodded.

  “She’s there. At Trevor’s,” I said.

  “You’re sure?”

  My instinctive response was to get angry with him for questioning me again, but it was instantly squashed by the sound of Tonya’s scream echoing through my mind. He was right. I needed to be sure. My eyes closed and I tried to think about Tonya the past few days. Her reluctance to give details about what she and Gran were doing. Her sudden lack of interest in the new Mickey guy. And then there was Trevor’s tweet. hookin up wit ma gurl 2nite. It was possible that instead of some unsuspecting girl, it had been Tonya. Who knew where she’d really been last night? The hollow pit in my stomach said she’d been with him. I was sure that’s where she was now.

  “Definitely. I have to go get her,” I said.

  “We can call the cops,” Nathan suggested.

  “And tell them what? That my friend says she’s fine, but I know she’s lying because some voice in my head is telling me she is?” I gave a humorless laugh. “I really don’t want your dad to think I’m crazy.”

  “I’ll drive then,” Nathan said. “No way should you be going anywhere near that asshole alone.”

  “Do you want us to come with?” Bianca asked.

  “There’s won’t be room in the truck for all of us once we pick Tonya up,” Nathan said.

  “Owen and I can take my car, and we’ll follow you.”

  “Fine. Let’s go.” I started moving to the door and they all fell in line behind me. Once we were in the parking
lot, reality started to sink in and I stopped abruptly. Nathan skidded past me, while Owen and Bianca nearly plowed into me. “I don’t remember how to get to his place.”

  “We used my dad’s GPS the time we went there. He practically never uses the thing, so it should still be stored. Come on.” Nathan grabbed my hand and propelled me forward. Owen and Bianca veered off toward her car, and Nathan and I continued straight. We climbed into his dad’s truck and a minute later, we were heading for San Diego.

  “Get the GPS from the glove box,” Nathan said. I opened the compartment, grabbed the GPS, and pushed the power button. Once it had loaded itself, I handed it to Nathan. He waited until we stopped at a red light to search for Trevor’s address. “Here it is.”

  I pulled out my cell and called Owen, knowing Bianca couldn’t answer hers because she was driving. I gave him the address and the basic directions to get to Trevor’s just in case we got separated.

  Then the rush of adrenaline began to wane. I felt completely exhausted and consumed by the nausea Trevor had brought on with his lies. I leaned my head against the cool window and stared into the blackness. Outside of town, there were no lights to illuminate the roadside.

  How could she have gone to see Trevor? How could she have lied to me about it? I wanted to yell at her, scream at her for being an idiot. I prayed that she was okay, that the call had been some complete misunderstanding, and that she was actually at home, safe and sound.

  Even without my gift, I knew I was lying to myself.

  “I’m sorry.”

  I looked at Nathan, his words bringing me out of my thoughts.

  “I shouldn’t have blackmailed you into giving Trevor a chance and I shouldn’t have brushed off your concerns.” He sounded a bit stiff, like he’d been practicing what to say and was trying to remember the exact wording.

  “I’m sorry, too.” My words were as stilted as his, although mine came from a reluctance to apologize. I really hated doing that, but Nathan was worth it. “I shouldn’t have blamed you for what Trevor did.”

  “But you were right about him.”

  “Yeah, but I wish I hadn’t been.” I sighed and shifted closer to him in my seat so I could place my hand on his thigh. He was warm like he always was, and it made me want to snuggle closer.

  Talking made me realize how badly my breath smelled. To distract myself, I rummaged in my purse for some gum.

  “What are you looking for?” Nathan asked.

  “Some gum. My breath is kind of funky.”

  “Check the glove box. My mom is a fanatic about her teeth. She may have something.”

  I opened the glove box, found a pack, and pulled out a stick of nasty tasting dental gum. The repetitive chewing had a calming effect, though my knees didn’t stop their jackrabbit thumping. The drive wasn’t long, only about thirty minutes, but each minute felt like an eternity. Each one a minute that Tonya could be in trouble. I tried calling her cell again, but there was still no answer.

  “You okay?” Nathan asked.

  “Yeah, I just hope Tonya is.” I rubbed my hands down my face, then placed them on my knees and tried to still my bouncing legs. “I don’t understand why she would go and see him. I would kill the guy if he’d done that to me.”

  “Who knows? Maybe she was just picking up some of her stuff.”

  I picked up the GPS and checked the arrival time. Four minutes. I put it back in the dashboard holder and glanced out the window. My gum popped in my mouth and I blew an awkward bubble. It was the old person type of gum meant only for chewing, not bubble blowing. I tried another bubble, but it snapped across my tongue. I looked at the GPS again. Two minutes. Bubble. Snap. One minute.

  “There it is.” I sat up in my seat. The area was familiar and the GPS was announcing we’d arrived. I jumped out of the truck as soon as Nathan parked. He followed behind me, as I pushed the call button for Trevor’s apartment. He didn’t answer. I pressed it again and again. My finger bending painfully with the pressure I was using. “Answer the fucking door, asshole.”

  “Maybe he’s not home.”

  “He’s here. I know it.” I stepped back and looked up at his window. He was right above us on the second floor. The blinds were drawn, but backlit. He was up there. Bianca and Owen came up behind me and Nathan explained Trevor wasn’t answering. “Shh! Listen.”

  They all shut up and we listened. Then I heard it. It was faint, but it was there. A cry and then something louder. Trevor yelling.

  “I’m calling the cops,” Owen said, and I tried to remember why I hadn’t done that earlier.

  I lunged back at the call button and did what I’d seen done on TV and the movies, pressing all the buttons, over and over again, hoping someone would just let us in. No one did. But one answered the call.

  “Hello?” a man’s voice said.

  “Thank God! Can you let us in? We need to get in please! My friend is hurt.” I was crying. Trevor was getting louder. I could hear him yelling clearly now. What was scaring me was that I didn’t hear Tonya.

  “Is this about that couple fighting upstairs?” the man asked.

  “Yes. Please! We’ve called the police, but please let us in.”

  He didn’t reply, but a moment later, there was a buzz and the door pulled open under Nathan’s tugging hand.

  “I’ll wait for the cops,” Owen called behind us, and caught the door before it closed. Even as he said it, I caught a flash of blue and red lights reflecting along the road with the corner of my eye.

  I ran up the stairs with Nathan and Bianca right behind me. Trevor’s door was behind the stairwell and I thumped on it with the palm of my hand. I could hear Tonya now. She was crying. Whimpering.

  “Trevor! Open up. I know Tonya’s in there.” I slammed my hand against the door when there was no response, and then pounded my fist on the door repeatedly.

  “The cops are here,” Bianca said from the foot of the stairs.

  “Trevor, please, open the door,” I begged, trying to sound a bit less angry and scared.

  “Miss, move away from the door.”

  I glanced over my shoulder and saw two police officers behind me. Nathan wrapped a hand around my arm and tugged me back, giving the officers space to move.

  “My friend is in there. I know she is. Please, help her.”

  “Miss, step back and let us do our job.” The female officer glared at me, causing me to take that commanded step back.

  “Phoebe, just be quiet,” Nathan said. It sounded harsh, but I knew he was only trying to help. With his father being the sheriff, he knew what to do around working officers. “Let’s wait downstairs.”

  “She didn’t need to be rude,” I said, my entire body shaking with fear and anger as we moved to the stairs.

  “She wasn’t. That’s the way cops are when they’re on duty. They need people to be a bit intimidated.”

  We walked back down to where Owen was waiting, and collapsed on the bottom step. I wanted, needed, to know what was going on. I could hear them knocking on the door, and identifying themselves as police. It seemed like forever before there was the creak of the door opening.

  Once the police had gone inside it was impossible to hear anything. Then the sirens of an ambulance reached us, and my stomach dropped. Tonya must be hurt.

  When Nathan gripped my arm, I thought he was preparing to stop me from going back up, but he was just moving me out of the way so the paramedics could get through. They took the stairs two at a time.

  “I should have called the cops as soon as she called me,” I said, watching the paramedics disappear up the stairs.

  “You didn’t know what was going on.” Nathan rubbed his arm along my arm. “Besides, what would you have said? That you thought Tonya was here, but couldn’t prove it? That you thought she was hurt, but couldn’t prove it?”

  “No. I don’t know. I should have done something to stop this.”

  “You’re blaming yourself again, Phoebe,” Owen said. His arms were crossed
and he stared at me with an intense gaze. It was a gaze that made me wonder if maybe he was simply acting all those times when he spaced out. “You might have a gift to hear lies, but you can’t know everything, and even if you did, you can’t control everyone. Tonya would have come here if you’d known or not. And if you’d told her not to come, she would have probably broken speed records to get here.”

  “Probably.” Admitting it didn’t make me feel any better.

  Owen looked like he had a lot more to say, but there was movement at the top of the stairs and we all turned to watch. Trevor came down first, his arms twisted behind his back, wrists cuffed. I found it difficult to swallow, my mouth completely dry. Even now, it was easy to see why Tonya had trusted him at first. He didn’t look like a bad guy. He just hid it very well.

  The paramedics came next and that’s when I nearly broke down. Tonya was on a backboard, her neck stabilized. Blood was everywhere, covering her new blue shirt, it was in her hair, and on her face. God, her face. What I could see was swollen and discolored.

  “Oh God,” I sobbed, and stepped toward her. Nathan held me back so they could move her out of the lobby.

  Tonya murmured something, but her lips were so swollen the words were unintelligible. I knew she had heard me. I shook Nathan’s hold off, and walked alongside her as they got her outside, managing to grasp her hand. She felt so cold.

  Looking down at her from this angle, I could see the other side of her face. There was an impression of the Nike swoosh along the side of her face. I choked back the bile burning my throat.

  “I’m here, Tonya. You’re gonna be fine.” I tried to keep my voice steady, but it still trembled.

  Her lips moved again, and I could see tears pooling in her eyes. My hand slid from hers as she was transferred into the back of the ambulance.

  “Are you family?” asked one of the paramedics.

  “What? No. No, I’m her best friend.” I looked at the paramedic. My mind was completely clouded. I tried to figure out what was happening. “Is she okay? What...? Can I ride with her? Please?”