Burning Down the House

by Allie Gail

  I kept this new development to myself, not even confiding in Dana. Not that she would have thought twice about it - she’s been taking them herself for over a year now. I just didn’t want all the questions about why I’d suddenly decided it was time to do this. What was I supposed to say? I didn’t even know how to explain it to myself.

  Dad’s schedule had him leaving for work again on Friday morning so we celebrated my birthday early with an upscale dinner on Thursday night. Trent and Dana met us at our house and the five of us drove to Cristiano’s together. Rob, Dana and Trent all pitched in and got me a gift certificate to a day spa. And later that night, back at home, my father surprised me with an amazing present - a new top-of-the-line laptop to replace my old outdated one.

  On Friday during drama class, Riley approached me once again about Colin’s party. “So you riding with me tomorrow?”

  I gave him a blank look. “Riding with you?”

  “Yeah…you want me to swing by your house and pick you up?”

  What a dumbass. “Oh. No, that’s okay. I don’t need a ride.”

  “I will see you there, right?”

  “I doubt it.”

  “What, you mean you’re not going?” He was gaping at me as if I just told him I was bailing on a benefit for starving children.

  “I wasn’t planning on it, no.”

  Overhearing our conversation, Dana piped up, “You’re really not gonna come?”

  “I don’t know, Dana…I’m just not really into this whole thing.”

  She looked disappointed enough to make me feel guilty. “Oh, come on! Pleeeeease…it’ll be fun! Just come for a little while. You don’t have to stay long if you don’t want to.”

  “I offered to take her,” Riley announced with a shrug.

  “Get Rob to bring you,” Dana made a point of saying, earning a disapproving frown from Golden Boy.

  “I’ll think about it, okay?” I relented. Maybe she was right - maybe I should go. What was the point of hanging around the house pining for someone who couldn’t make up his mind what he wanted?

  When I got home from school, I found a UPS package from my mom. She’d sent me some new clothes, a gift card to Bath and Body Works and a birthday card with a check inside. I called her immediately even though I knew she’d still be at work.

  “Hi there sweetie…I was going to call you tomorrow to wish you a happy birthday.”

  “I just got your package, Mom. Thank you so much…”

  “You’re very welcome. It’s from Stanley, too. Do you like the clothes? Do they fit?”

  “Yes, I love them…they’re perfect…tell Stanley thank you for me too, okay?”

  “I will. Doing anything special tomorrow?”

  “Not really. Dad’ll be working so we went out to dinner last night.”

  “Just you and your father?”

  “No, Dana and her boyfriend were there, and Rob…” Oops. The instant I mentioned his name I knew I’d goofed.

  “Rob? Who is this, some boy you’re dating?” I could hear a phone ringing in the background. “Hold on for just a second.” To someone else she said, “Good afternoon, Davis Family Law Group, how may I help you? No, I’m afraid he’s at the courthouse right now…is there something one of the other attorneys can help you with? Probably not, but he’ll be in the office all day tomorrow. Would you like me to have him return your call then? Certainly, that’ll be fine…I’ll let him know.” Returning to her cell phone, she repeated, “Now then. Who’s Rob?”

  “Just a friend, kind of.”

  “Kind of, huh?” she teased.

  “It’s complicated, Mom…”

  “It always is. Especially at your age. I tell you, I wouldn’t go back and relive those years for anything.”

  I was surprised to hear her say that. “Really?”

  “No way. I’ve earned every one of these gray hairs and I don’t intend to give up a single one of them.”

  “You don’t have any gray hair,” I reminded her.

  “Well, of course not. That’s what beauty salons are for. I said I wouldn’t give them up - I never said I wouldn’t cover them up.” The office phone rang again, and she sighed. “That blasted phone has been ringing off the hook all day. Let me call you back later, okay sweetie?”

  “Sure, Mom. Bye.”

  Dana wasn’t going to the football game that night - her brother had some piano recital or something - so I’d already decided to skip it as well. I was actually looking forward to spending a quiet evening at home alone. The busy week was finally catching up with me, and being unusually tired I turned in early. I was curled up in bed sound asleep long before Rob made it home from the out-of-town game.

  The next thing I knew, bright sunlight was filtering in through the filmy yellow curtains and someone was sitting on the edge of my bed.

  “Mmm…” Stretching my arms above my head, I rolled over to see Rob beside me, holding an orange-frosted cupcake with a small black candle stuck in it. He grinned playfully as he lit the wick with his antique lighter and I burst out laughing.

  “Make a wish, Saralou.”

  Scooting up against the pillows, I pushed the disheveled tresses away from my face and hesitated for only a moment before blowing out the candle. I already knew what to wish for. That was a no-brainer. Giving the icing a swipe, I popped an orange-coated fingertip in my mouth before nodding my approval. “Not bad.”

  “Now you have to tell me what you wished for.”

  “Says who? If I tell you, it won’t come true.” I scooped up another blob of icing and brought it to my lips, but his quick hand caught my wrist and my finger wound up in his mouth instead of mine. It was the first physical contact we’d had in over a week and I felt it all the way down to my pink cotton boyshorts.

  “Mm…that is good.” Licking his lips, he gave me a naughty wink. “Icing’s not bad either. Now. Tell me what you wished for.”

  “Why do you want me to tell you?”

  “So I can make it come true for you. I gave you the wish so technically it’s my responsibility to follow through.”

  “Suppose I asked for world peace?”

  “Then I’d feel obligated to leave right away and go join up with the Peace Corps. So I’m really hoping you were more selfish than that.”

  “Well, it’s your lucky day, pal.” I took a bite out of the cupcake he was still holding, indifferent to the crumbs falling all over my comforter. I could always change the bedding later. “I wished for more wishes.” That wasn’t the truth, but I sure as heck wasn’t telling him what I really wanted.

  “Oh…very efficient.”

  “You can start by helping me out with some stuff today.”

  “I think that can be arranged. What kind of stuff did you have in mind?”

  “First off, I’ve got two pumpkins that need carving. How artistic are you?”

  “I think I’m capable of hacking a few triangles into a piece of produce. What else?”

  “Um…we also have to go to the store for more candy, seeing how you and Dad ate up all the stuff I already bought.” How they’d managed to go through five bags of candy in one week was anyone’s guess. You’d think they’d both be in a sugar coma by now. I wouldn’t have been a bit surprised to turn on the news and see that one of the planes out of JST was doing barrel rolls.

  “Well, you should have known better than to come home with Snickers and Reese’s cups. Let this be a lesson to you. Next time buy those little boxes of raisins. Nobody wants those.”

  “Yeah…so I can spend the day after Halloween cleaning eggs off the front door? I don’t think so!”

  “You know what’s even messier than eggs?”

  “What?”

  “This.” Before I could stop him, he was smushing the rest of the cupcake against my mouth, covering my face with sticky icing and my bed with chocolate cake crumbs while I squealed indignantly through his fingers.

  “Oh…my…God, I cannot believe you did that!” I shrieked, try
ing to wipe the orange goop off my face with my hands while he doubled over like it was the most hilarious thing he’d ever seen. Yuck - the stuff was even in my hair! All over my pajamas, in my sheets - it was everywhere. How could something so small make such a huge mess?

  “Damn, girl…you need a shower,” he laughed, standing up and backing away toward the door in the event of retaliation. I couldn’t prevent myself from laughing too.

  “You are so dead,” I warned him, shaking my head.

  “Happy birthday,” he called over his shoulder as he made good his escape.

  “Your jack-o-lantern looks like a mental patient.” Placing my hands on my hips, I surveyed Rob’s work critically. I’d requested that he make it scary, but instead the pumpkin sort of resembled that crazy-eyed school bus driver from South Park. Which I guess could be construed as scary, in a way.

  “I never claimed to be Rembrandt.” He smoothed off one corner of the jagged mouth with the knife’s edge. “Actually I think it looks pretty good.”

  “It looks like it needs a straightjacket,” I giggled.

  “That makes two of you then, doesn’t it.” Wiping his hands on his jeans, he reached for another miniature Butterfinger out of the plastic bowl on the counter, tearing open the wrapper with his teeth.

  “Would you stop eating all the candy!” The guy was like a bottomless pit. I mean, where did it all go? He must have the metabolism of a coked up hummingbird.

  “All of it? Shit, Sara, we bought enough to keep every kid in the neighborhood wired until Christmas!” He shoved the whole thing in his mouth. “Sthtop bein’ sthtingy.”

  I was trying to come up with a witty rebuttal when Dana’s ringtone broke my train of thought. “Trick or treat, ho!” I greeted her cheerfully.

  “Happy birthday, floozy!” she replied, laughing. “What are you up to?”

  “Watching Rob demolish a pumpkin.” I grinned when he raised an eyebrow at me. “How about you?”

  “Nothing much - Trent’s here, we’re watching a movie. I’m about to start getting ready for tonight. Did you decide if you were coming or not?” In the background I heard Trent holler, “You’re cordially invited, bitch!”

  “Tell him that was the absolute worst Tiny Tina impression I ever heard and to lay off the Borderlands. And I still don’t know…how late do you think you guys are gonna stay?”

  “Guess it depends. Why don’t you just give me a call later if you decide you’re coming, okay?”

  “Okay. You guys be good.”

  “Don’t count on it…” she sang gaily before ending the call.

  I slid the phone back into my pocket and watched as Rob began carefully slicing the top off the second pumpkin. Without taking his eyes off his work, he asked, “You planning on going out to Savage River tonight?”

  I shrugged noncommittally. “Maybe, after I’m done passing out candy. You can come with me if you want.”

  “I could.” Grasping the stem, he pulled the top off and scraped the pumpkin guts and seeds that were clinging to it. “Or…you could just stay here with me and we could veg out on horror movies.” He shot me a quick glance and there was something there, I don’t know what exactly, but I could feel deep inside that he had more on his mind than a late-night movie marathon. That the thin veneer of his wall of resistance was cracking. Maybe I was wrong. But I didn’t think so.

  Well, that settled that. I wasn’t going anywhere tonight. Disregarding the anxious butterfly wings beating against my chest, I carefully kept my voice steady as I agreed nonchalantly to his suggestion. “Sure…okay. We could do that.”

  It was 5:30 and scarcely dusk out when the first trick-or-treaters started showing up. Rob had disappeared to go have a shower so I settled myself outside on the front steps between the two goofy jack-o-lanterns. From this vantage point I doled out treats to fairy princesses, superheroes and even one adorable little boy dressed as a garden gnome, complete with white beard and pointy cap. The early arrivals were mostly toddlers and smaller children holding tightly to their parents’ hands so they didn’t trip and fall. They were all so cute I went a little overboard with the candy. That was okay though - we’d made a trip to the store earlier so there was no worry of running low.

  I smiled when I caught sight of Peyton skipping up the sidewalk from her house next door, all decked out in her pink tutu and ballet slippers. Her blonde curls were even pulled back into a neat little bun. Mr. Weston followed behind her, strolling along at a more leisurely pace. Her mother must have stayed behind to pass out candy.

  “Trick or treat, smell my feet!” she chanted loudly, swinging her plastic orange pail.

  I crossed my arms over my knees. “Well, now who is this? Don’t I know you from somewhere?”

  “I’m the sugar plum fairy!” she announced, twirling around in a few unsteady circles to make her point.

  “Oh, I see…well, in that case you’ll need lots of sugar, right?” I grabbed two big handfuls and dropped them into her bucket, then looked over my shoulder as I heard the front door open and close behind me.

  “Well hey there, Miss Sassytude.” Rob sat down beside me on the brick steps, close enough that we were shoulder to shoulder. I could smell the Irish Spring soap he’d just used, and for some reason that turned my insides to jelly.

  Peyton propped a hand on her waist just above the tutu and assumed her prissiest stance, with one tiny hip jutting out and head tilted to the side. “I’m not a sassytude - I’m a ballerina! Don’t you know anything?”

  “My bad. I’m always getting the two mixed up.”

  “She’s the sugar plum fairy,” I informed him before confiding in Peyton, “Boys are so dumb, aren’t they?”

  “Yeah - boys are dumb!” she agreed.

  “Say ‘thank you’, Peyton,” Mr. Weston prompted her.

  “Thank you!”

  “You’re welcome, sweetie,” I told her, waving to her dad as she skipped away, still singing trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat…

  “Have fun with all the little goblins tonight!” he called back with a grin, hurrying along to catch up to his tiny dancer who was eager to continue making her rounds.

  Rob nudged me with his shoulder. “I just remembered something. I haven’t given you your birthday present yet.”

  “But you already got me a present,” I reminded him, surprised.

  “This is different. It’s something I saw that made me think of you.” He hopped up. “I’ll be right back.”

  I passed out handfuls of fun-size chocolate bars to another group of trick-or-treaters while he was gone, wondering what it was that he could have seen that reminded him of me. And why he would’ve gone to all the trouble when he didn’t have to. Unless…unless he liked me a lot more than I dared to hope. The anticipation triggered my stomach into performing little back flips. He came back outside after just a couple of minutes, reclaiming his place on the steps before handing me a small white box with a miniature blue bow on top.

  “There you are.”

  I stared down at the tiny box, almost afraid to open it. There was no way of knowing what to expect with him. Apprehensively I asked, “What is it?” If it turned out to be a gag gift I was going to kill him. At least the box was too small for it to be a plastic dog poo Pez dispenser or something like that.

  He laughed at my wariness. “It’s not gonna bite you. I promise.”

  Carefully I removed the lid and almost immediately felt a lump form in my throat. I couldn’t take my eyes off what was inside. Cradled on a bed of cotton was a crystal ballerina attached to a slender silver chain. The blue gems in her tiny tutu sparkled under the dim glow of the porch light. Touching the delicate charm with my fingertips, I found myself completely and utterly speechless.

  “I didn’t know what to get you,” he said, sounding a little embarrassed.

  Oh, God…don’t just sit there, idiot. Say something. “You didn’t have to get me anything.” Brilliant, Einstein. Like he didn’t alread
y know that. I removed the necklace from its soft bedding, holding it up to dangle from the chain while admiring the way the crystal caught the light and refracted it. “It’s beautiful.”

  “Yeah, well…like I said, I saw it and thought of you.” He reached for my hand and I swear I literally felt sparks from his touch. “Let me put it on you.”

  Gathering my loose hair out of the way, I waited while his fingers met behind my neck and fumbled with the clasp. He leaned in closer so he could see better, his face temptingly near mine, and I breathed in the scent of his Axe shampoo while entertaining the notion of giving his ear a little nibble. How would he react to that, I wondered. But no, I’d promised myself that the next move would be up to him. Friends without benefits - until he indicated otherwise, that’s all we were. Even if fantasizing over the possibilities of those benefits was keeping me up at night.

  “There.” One hand dropped down to lift the charm from the front of my Joe Ghoul sweatshirt so he could inspect it. “You like?”

  “I love it…thank you…” I covered his hand with mine and felt the breath anchor in my chest when his hazel eyes elevated to catch me in their magnetic field. I struggled to think of something else to say. Something that would distract me from the intensity of his probing gaze. If only I knew what thoughts were running through his head right now. All my own lame brain could come up with was, “This was so sweet of you.”

  “I can be good when I want to be.” His lips curved into a devastatingly sexy smile. “It’s just that most of the time, I’d rather be bad.”

  I opened my mouth to say oh, is that so? But the slamming of a car door almost underneath our noses snapped both of us out of the moment. I expected to see more candy beggars coming up the front walk, but instead it was the pizza delivery guy. Oh, lovely - I’d called them over an hour ago and the driver decides to show up now? He should get a promotion for his unbelievably crappy timing.

  Or maybe it was perfect timing. I guess it all depended on how you looked at it.

  15