Escape

by Francine Pascal

  “What?”

  “Don’t sneak up on me like that, okay?”

  “Relax.” Tatiana giggled, freeing her mane of long blond hair from its ponytail, swinging it all in front of her face and then flipping it back, letting it fall perfectly over her shoulders.

  “I’m perfectly relaxed,” Ed assured her.

  “Tatiana!” The native call of the FOHs suddenly rang out through the entire cafeteria. Ed cringed at the deafening frequency of their joyous squeaks.

  “What’s up, ladies?” Tatiana chirped at top volume. She flashed a massive grin as Megan and Tammie scampered up and dropped down into the two opposite chairs.

  Ed turned to Tatiana, arching his eyebrow ever so slightly. He’d heard of fast friends before, but Tatiana seemed to be setting a new record. On the other hand, when the FOHs locked onto their targets, they tended not to miss.

  “Oh my God, I totally loved your ideas for the party,” Megan squealed, ogling Tatiana with wide-eyed admiration.

  “Oh, thank you.” Tatiana smiled humbly. “I just thought the teeniest bit of decoration would make it a little more special, you know? More tasteful.”

  “You were totally right,” Megan crooned. “They were perfect. Perfect. Melanie is out shopping right now at Kate’s. Laura is checking on my balloon order. It’s all totally coming together. What do you think of the invites?”

  “Perfect.” Tatiana smiled even more widely, taking one of the invitations. “We really do think alike, uh?”

  “Totally,” Megan agreed.

  “Well, I’ll put in the flower order after next period,” Tatiana said. “And everything is all set at Pravda. I talked to my friend last night, and it seems the management is going to be out of town, so she’s going to help us do a little something special for the alcohol situation, what with it being a benefit and all. . . .”

  Ed gave Tatiana another sideways glance. He still seemed to learn new little tidbits about her every day. He’d certainly never seen her with the particular “naughty little smile” she was flashing the girls. Nor was he aware that Tatiana could simply make a call and arrange a private stash of booze. It was actually a relief to see that she had a slightly wild side. Sometimes Ed worried about her perfectionist streak.

  “Genius,” Tammie gurgled, smiling back reverently. “You’re a genius. Well, the turnout is going to be huge. We’ve got some NYU, some Columbia, some VS, though there’s very little point, given the dearth of hot guys here.”

  “Nice,” Ed quipped. He couldn’t decide which thing to be offended by first. The fact that their concern was how many “hot guys” would attend a benefit for Heather or the fact that he had just been dissed.

  “Oh, relax, Ed.” Tammie groaned. “You’re taken.”

  “Taken, but still hot.” Tatiana laughed, mussing up his hair like a dog. Ed gave her another puzzled glance, and she tugged her hand away quickly.

  For the briefest millisecond Ed found himself troubled by Tatiana’s recent weirdness. He actually wondered if they needed to have a two-second chat just to go over the fact that their slight unfortunate dip into romance was totally resolved—and more than over. She had completely concurred with the “just friends” plan. Did he need to remind her that he and Gaia were totally, one hundred percent together?

  But his worry was quickly replaced by a torturous and spiky rock that landed in his stomach when he caught himself thinking he and Gaia were totally one hundred percent together. That was the overstatement of the century. A cloud of gloom fell over his face before he could even hide it.

  “Oh, Ed, don’t look so sad.” Tammie sighed. “You’re hot, okay? You’re no Jake, but you’re hot.”

  “What?” Ed uttered, not even sure what Tammie had just said.

  Megan’s eyes suddenly widened with desperate urgency. “Wait, is Jake coming?”

  “Of course he’s coming,” Tammie replied. “He’s basically the entire VS hot guy contingent. I mean, besides Ed,” she added, tossing Ed a patronizing nod. “But I think Jake should count double based on his hotness. . . so that’s three. He’s hanging out after school/preparty with us, remember?” Tammie suddenly looked at Tatiana with a blinding grin. “Oh, Tatiana, I forgot to even ask you—can we come to your house for that?”

  “Of course.” Tatiana smiled. “Absolutely—”

  “I knew you’d say yes.” Tammie laughed.

  “Yes,” Megan agreed with a pronounced nod of excitement. “We are coming to your house and we are raiding your closet.”

  Ed’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he heard it. The closet raid. Already. After two days. Maybe Heather was becoming psychic?

  “Sounds good to me,” Tatiana said.

  “Perfect,” Megan chirped. “I am so dying to see your entire collection.”

  “Well, you’re all welcome to come over.”

  “Um. . .” Ed stepped in on Tatiana’s conversation and stared at her, trying to give her the appropriate code with his eyes.

  “What?” she asked innocently.

  He couldn’t believe how little she was thinking this through. For Gaia’s sake, he didn’t want to have to spell it out in front of Tammie and Megan, but judging from Tatiana’s blank face, he guessed he would have to. Tatiana seemed to have forgotten that her bedroom and apartment were also Gaia’s bedroom and apartment. And if Tatiana thought that she could bring a herd of FOHs into Gaia’s house without the potential for bloodshed. . .

  “Won’t, uh. . . Gaia get a little. . . annoyed?” Ed tried to make his point as lightly as possible.

  “Oh, Gaia won’t be home,” Tatiana said, nearly in passing. “I love it. You can all help me pick something out for tonight.”

  “Where’s she going to be?” Ed asked.

  Tatiana turned to Ed and went into a bizarre two seconds of deer-in-headlights syndrome.

  She looked like she’d suddenly needed to power down and restart. “Gaia. . . you mean?”

  “Yes, Gaia,” Ed repeated, searching Tatiana’s eyes for returning brain function. “Where is Gaia?”

  “Oh. . . oh, I have no idea.” Tatiana laughed. “But you know she won’t be home, Ed. She is never home.”

  That was certainly true. Gaia was always appearing and disappearing at will, not even telling Ed where the hell she was going. The thought of it made Ed want to drop his chin down on the table again.

  Megan turned to Ed. “Ed, you should come over, too.”

  “To raid Tatiana’s closet?” he muttered.

  “No, Mr. Gloomy-Face. To hang out with Jake. Jake’s supposed to hang out with us, but now you guys can do ‘boy’ things while we do ‘girl’ things. It’s perfect.”

  However gloomy-faced Ed had looked before, he doubled it. “I’m supposed to sit and do ‘boy’ things. . . with Jake?”

  “He’s cool, Ed,” Tammie insisted. “He’s really cool. You’ll like him.”

  “Yeah,” Ed uttered in a monotone. “I think I’ll pass—”

  “Ed, come on,” Tatiana moaned, giving his shoulder a jovial shake. “Come over, okay? I will let these girls take my entire wardrobe if I don’t have someone there to talk some sense into me.”

  “She’s right,” Tammie assured him. “I’ve already seen her in two skirts that I’m totally borrowing.”

  “I really don’t think—”

  “Ed, what are you going to do instead?” Tatiana crossed her arms and stared at him with a well-meaning frown. “Sit in your house alone and look gloomy until the party?”

  Ed had no response for that. It was, for the most part, exactly what he had planned to do if he couldn’t have that dream conversation with Gaia. Particularly if he couldn’t even find Gaia for the evening, which he was beginning to think might be the case. But now that Tatiana had announced the depressing plan so publicly, he realized that it was, in fact, too depressing. Even more depressing than sitting with Jake and doing boy things, whatever the hell that meant.

  “Okay.” He sighed.

 
“Perfect,” Megan said, standing up out of her chair. “We’ll meet you guys in the lobby after school. Let’s go, Tam. We need to finish handing out the invites.”

  Megan and Tammie said their good-byes and drifted back into their puppetlike bouncing, leaving Ed and Tatiana alone at the table.

  “They are so nice,” Tatiana cooed. “I had no idea they were so nice.”

  “It depends on what you’re wearing,” Ed mumbled, leaning back in his chair and giving in to the question of where on earth Gaia had gone this time. She was obviously searching somehow for her father. Probably running from hospital to hospital across the city. Of course keeping Ed out of the loop completely.

  Tatiana leaned closer to Ed and examined his eyes.

  “Ed, I wish you didn’t let Gaia’s craziness hurt you so much, you know?”

  “I know.”

  “I mean, she is just Gaia. She has so many things going on in her life.”

  Ed gave Tatiana his full attention. “What things?”

  “Just. . . things, you know? She’s just. . . out there somewhere, doing. . . whatever she is doing, and. . . You don’t need to worry. Everything is going to work out between the two of you.”

  Ed searched her eyes more closely. “Do you know where she is?”

  “No. Of course not. When do I ever know where she is? I just wish you didn’t have to go so crazy when she is off doing. . . whatever. I mean, she’s not, you know. . . a princess. . . .”

  “What are you talking about?” Ed sat up much straighter in his chair so that he and Tatiana were face-to-face.

  “Nothing.” Tatiana giggled, putting her hands on his shoulders and steadying him. “Oh my goodness, nothing, Ed. I’m just babbling. I’m speaking through my ass.”

  “That must be why you’re not making any sense.”

  Tatiana laughed and dropped her head on Ed’s shoulder. “Yes, exactly. I have learned English so well that I can now talk out of my ass. Please forgive me, okay? Forgive me.”

  “I don’t know what for.”

  “I don’t know, either.” She laughed again. “But forgive me, anyway.”

  “No problem.” Ed sighed. “Forgiving people is what I do best.”

  “Diner” Diner

  “SHOULD WE LEAVE?” SAM UTTERED through the side of his mouth.

  The entire diner seemed to have looked up from their meals or their beers. Even the cook and the two waitresses seemed to be staring at Sam and Gaia as if they had just stepped off the mother ship, ready to begin their deadly assault on earth.

  Gaia had never seen this many fat leather-clad men sitting in one place. Normally she would have been delighted to finally be surrounded by “real” people instead of the parade of posers back in the city. But the looks on these faces suggested otherwise. The looks on these faces did not elicit delight, but rather suggested the need for a deep understanding of biker gang protocol. Which Gaia would have to pretend she had.

  “No way,” Gaia said, grabbing Sam’s wrist firmly and dragging him toward two open spots at the counter. “I’m hungry.”

  Slowly but surely, the bikers returned to their meals as the waitress approached Sam and Gaia at the counter. The look on her face hovered somewhere between puzzled fascination and disdain. Gaia peeked down at her name tag. Doris. Even better than Mavis or Janette.

  I want to be you, Doris.

  Doris brought her pencil to her notepad but suddenly dropped it down at her side and just stared for a moment, sizing them up. “Okay, I just got one question,” she said. Her voice had obviously been ravaged by three packs a day for at least twenty years. “I got a bet going with the cook. Are you two supermodels or aliens?”

  “He’s a supermodel,” Gaia explained. “I’m an alien.”

  Doris let out a large, infectious laugh. She pressed her pencil back to her pad with a smile. “Well, what do supermodels and aliens eat?”

  “Cheeseburgers,” Gaia explained. “We only eat cheeseburgers. And coffee. We drink a lot of coffee.”

  “Well, I’ll start up a fresh pot, then,” Doris said. “Coming right up.”

  Gaia smiled with complete sincerity. Something she rarely did in anyone but Ed Fargo’s company. She wondered whether or not she should ask Doris for an application just in case she decided to come back and get a job right here at the “Diner” diner.

  So she hadn’t been wrong after all. These were the kinds of people she’d hoped to find out here in the land of truck stop diners. Straightforward, funny, and unpretentious. She could see Sam start to breathe a little easier, too. Until the door opened again.

  All heads turned toward the doorway with that exact same communal glance of death that had greeted Sam and Gaia. This was either the standard greeting for the folks at this particular diner, or, more likely, this was the standard greeting for the nonregulars—something they clearly got very few of.

  They must have been particularly troubled to see two nonregular arrivals in such a short period of time. And they weren’t alone. Gaia found that coincidence a bit curious herself. She and Sam walked in. And then these two other random dudes walked in three minutes later? Could be meaningless. Could be a major problem. Especially since they were clearly criminals, plain and simple. Their faces were obscured by ugly aviator sunglasses. And their black clothes were entirely nondescript.

  “You know what?” Sam said. “I’ll be right back.”

  He slid off his spinning stool, but Gaia grabbed his arm and held him close. “Where are you going?” she asked calmly, glancing back furtively at the two men, as they of course had to sit down at the booth directly behind her.

  “Bathroom,” Sam explained. “I’ll be back.”

  “Okay.”

  She let go of his arm and watched as he made his way to the rest room. Doris placed the coffees on the counter.

  “Here you go. Two coffees. The burgers will be out in a sec.”

  “Thanks.” Gaia had only enough time to bring the coffee to her lips before the worst-case scenario reared its ugly head. Why did her instincts always have to be so good in just this one category? Potential violence. She always seemed to get that right.

  “Is someone sitting here?” the man asked, lowering his aviator sunglasses to introduce Gaia to the hideously black circles under his eyes and the reek of his cigar breath.

  “Yup,” Gaia replied, turning her eyes straight forward and focusing on the old milk shake machine. She sipped her coffee. This lunch could still come off without incident if he just took his brush-off cue. “Someone’s sitting here,” she confirmed, “and you’re sitting back there.”

  “Well, maybe it should be the other way around,” he suggested, leaning an inch closer to her as he settled into Sam’s seat. He seemed to have studied his stupid, loutish accent at thug finishing school.

  Gaia rolled her eyes and then glanced down the hall toward the rest rooms. “No, I think it’s good the way it is,” she said.

  “Wait, are you saying that you would rather be with that. . . that skinny kid than me?” He leaned forward on the counter, trying to make eye contact.

  If he wanted eye contact, he could have it. Gaia turned and stared him down over the tops of his serial-killer shades. “Yeah, that’s what I’m saying.”

  “Yeah.” The man chuckled dubiously, showing his yellowing excuses for teeth. “Yeah, he looks real tough, that kid.”

  “Yeah, tough, right,” Gaia mumbled. “There’s just nothing I love more than a ‘tough guy.’ Nothing says ‘confidence’ like a guy babbling about how tough he is.”

  “Oh, you think I’m babbling? You don’t think I’m tough enough?”

  Oh, Jesus. Couldn’t you keep it in check, Gaia? Challenging an idiot’s toughness was the equivalent of flashing a banana in front of a caged monkey.

  “You don’t think I’m tough, bitch? How’s this?” The next thing Gaia knew, the barrel of a gun was jammed against her head. “Is this tough?” he shouted. “Would you call this tough? Does your college bo
y ever cram a nine millimeter into your head? ’Cause maybe he should.”

  Gaia barely even noticed the first round of screams and curses that echoed through the entire restaurant. She was too busy trying to plan her next move.

  “Shut up!” the man howled. “Everybody shut up and get your asses down on the floor!”

  The man’s accomplice leapt up out of the booth and pulled his own gun, waving it wildly at all the bikers and truckers. “The floor, I said! Get down on the floor!”

  Gaia could tell that a few of the bikers still wanted to be heroes. They were grumbling and making slight steps in Gaia’s direction. Boy, had she pegged them wrong when she first came in.

  “It’s all right,” she assured them, basically ignoring the gun set against her right temple. “I’m fine. Just do what he says.”

  Gaia’s mind was racing through all of her options, given the spatial relationship of the two men. Mark their positions. What’s the distance from this stool to thug number two? It would take a leap, definitely. He’ll fire from the right, but if I go left, then thug number one has got me from behind. . . . Two guns, Gaia. You’ve got to shake yours, but you can’t leave the other guy any time to fire on one of these people. . . .

  And where the hell are you, Sam? You’re telling me you can’t hear this entire thing in the bathroom?

  “Listen to the bitch,” the cigar-loving sicko shouted. “Do what I say! Everyone empty your pockets. You,” he screamed down to Doris, on the floor behind the counter. “Empty the register!”

  Doris wobbled nervously over to the register as he knocked the barrel of the gun against Gaia’s head again. He leaned in closer and whispered in her ear, “Now is where it gets good. Tony!” he called to his accomplice.

  “Yeah?”

  “Kill one of ’em.”

  “Right.”

  “What?” Gaia whipped her head around to look the deranged son of a bitch in the eye.

  “Oh, now she’s losing her cool.” He laughed.

  “Why?” Gaia shouted.

  Tony grabbed one of the truckers, hoisted him up off the floor, and placed the gun right against his stomach. Gaia could see the absolute terror in the poor man’s eyes as sweat poured down his face. Tony seemed to enjoy it. “Guess you picked the wrong day to eat lunch here, my friend.”