Last Train Home

by Megan Nugen Isbell

  “You’ve gotta swing, Riley!” Alex laughed.

  “Hey! I’m just warming up,” I said as I squared around and stared into the black hole of the pitching machine. Another ball came flying towards me and I swung as hard as I could, but all I hit was air.

  “Impressive!”

  “Gimme a chance!” I yelled as I prepared myself again, but once more it zoomed past me without making contact. Now I was starting to get embarrassed.

  “You’re swinging too late,” Alex said, finally stepping in to help. “Here, watch me.”

  I stepped back and he squared up, concentrating on the pitching machine. The ball flew out and before it went past him, I heard the loud metal clank of the bat and ball connecting as he hit a line drive. Another ball flew out and he hit that one with ease too.

  “Thanks for showing me up,” I joked.

  “I’m not showing you up. I’m just showing you how to do it. Why don’t you try again?”

  He stepped back and I returned to the plate.

  “You need to choke up on the bat some more.” He stepped towards me and moved my hands so they were higher up on the neck of the bat. “Does that feel better?” I nodded and he continued. “Now spread your feet apart some more,” he said as he inched my feet apart with his. He stood closely behind me and as I felt his arms wrap around me until both of our hands were gripping the bat, I couldn’t help but notice how good he smelled.

  “Here it comes. Just keep your eye on the ball. You ready?”

  I nodded and stared hard ahead of me as I waited for the ball. It came flying out and then, with Alex’s help, I swung the bat and I realized I’d hit it when I felt the sting on my hand when the bat and ball connected.

  “Got it now?” he asked, stepping back.

  “Yeah, I think I do.”

  He went back and leaned on the wire fence as I prepared to try and not look like a fool again. I focused intently, waiting for the ball again. A second later, it was flying towards me. My eyes followed it and then I swung. I heard the ball meet the bat and I hit a grounder back towards the pitching machine.

  “I did it!” I exclaimed and I looked over to Alex who was smiling. He walked over to me and patted me on the back.

  “See, not so hard,” he said and his voice seemed to melt over me. This was not my first rodeo, as they would undoubtedly say in these parts, but there was something about Alex. Just the sound of his voice gave me butterflies.

  After the batting cages, we played a round of mini-golf. I hadn’t played since I was probably ten, but it was fun, and I pretended I wasn’t very good at it either so Alex would have to help me, like in the batting cages. I realized it was stupid and childish, but I liked the feeling of his arms around me.

  “Having fun?” he asked as we walked to the next hole.

  “Yes, I am.”

  “You sound surprised.”

  “Can I be honest?” I asked as we walked.

  “I would hope so.”

  “When you told me we were coming here, I was a little skeptical.”

  “Why’s that?” he asked, turning to look at me with those deep brown eyes.

  “I don’t know. I’ve just…I mean, no one’s ever taken me to batting cages on a date before.”

  “Ah…here we go with another Carver versus Boston thing again.”

  “No, I didn’t mean that. If we’re being honest…I kinda like this. It’s simple. It’s fun and I’m glad you brought me here.”

  “Me too,” he said, smiling at me and then I felt the warmth of his hand take mine as we walked. My fingers curled around his and for a second I even forgot that I was in Carver. I felt a twinge of happiness briefly, which immediately vanished when I looked up and saw Adrienne across the golf course. She was with her devotees, Dana and Kristen, and some guys I didn’t recognize.

  “You okay?” Alex asked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, trying to erase Adrienne from my sights.

  “Oh, I see,” Alex said as he noticed her too. “It’s only Adrienne though.”

  “Only Adrienne?” I asked doubtfully.

  “Yeah…only Adrienne.”

  “Can I be honest again?” He looked at me and nodded. “I’ve been told you and Adrienne have a history,” I said and I heard him chuckle softly.

  “Yeah, you heard right. But that’s exactly what it is…history. That was a long time ago.”

  “Well, my friends… my friends didn’t seem to think I should go out with you,” I said hesitantly.

  “I’m glad you didn’t listen to your friends.”

  By this time we were walking at a snail’s pace and we’d already let two groups pass us for the next hole.

  “But, if we’re being honest, can I ask why they didn’t want you going out with me?”

  I shrugged my shoulders and didn’t really know how to respond to him.

  “I don’t really know. Maybe it’s your status, as one of them,” I said, cringing slightly, hoping he wouldn’t take it the wrong way.

  “One of them? What am I? An alien?” he said with a laugh.

  “No!” I said, nudging him. “I guess what I mean by one of them, is the it crowd to which you belong.”

  “So because of who my friends are, your friends don’t want you going out with me?” he said and raised his eyebrow, but he was smiling.

  “Yeah, I guess that’s the deal.”

  “Is that it? Any other reasons your friends aren’t cool with us?”

  My eyes drifted towards the spot where Adrienne and her crew were walking away.

  “Adrienne?” he asked and I nodded. “I told you, there’s no problem.”

  “Well, she hasn’t exactly been friendly to me. In fact, she’s been pretty awful and my friends warned me she might get even nastier if she saw me hanging out with you.”

  He was quiet and I could tell he was thinking.

  “Well, I’m not sure I can say anything to change your mind.”

  “I’m not asking you to. I was just…” but I didn’t get the chance to finish my sentence as I suddenly felt his lips on mine. They were warm and soft and sweet. He gently cupped my face in his hands and I thought I felt my knees grow weak for a second as a chill ran up my spine. He pulled away slowly a few moments later, and he was looking at me with his deep brown eyes. His hands slowly slid down my cheeks, but he didn’t drop his gaze.

  “I saw you. I was intrigued so I talked to you, and then I wanted to go out with you. I don’t care who you hang out with and I don’t care about Adrienne,” he said softly. “I hope I might’ve helped to ease your mind a bit.”

  “Um, yeah,” I said quietly, still trying to catch my breath. He smiled at me and then took my hand and led me to the next hole.

  Chapter Eight

  “Okay, I’m dying to know. How’d it go on Saturday? With Alex?” Mandy asked excitedly on Monday morning. She’d spotted me at my locker and practically came running towards me, leaving Laura and Holly behind.

  “C’mon, c’mon! Don’t leave me hangin’!” she said, shaking my arm as Laura and Holly finally joined us a few moments later.

  “Yeah, would you just fill us in so she’ll finally shut up,” Laura said, rolling her eyes at Mandy.

  “It was great actually,” I said with a smile and shut my locker.

  “Tell me more,” Mandy persisted.

  “We had fun,” I said, folding my arms and then was quiet, but Mandy wouldn’t let it go.

  “What? That’s it? That’s all you’re gonna say? I want details,” she demanded, but then she focused on something behind me and was quiet.

  “Hey,” Alex’s voice said. I turned around to find him smiling at me, his hands in his pockets and his brown eyes peeking out from behind his hair. He looked around at my friends and he waved at them, his hands still at his waist. There was a mumble of hellos in return and then everyone stood quietly.

  “Well, we’ve gotta get to class,” Holly said and turned to leave. Laura followed, but Mandy remained at
my side. “C’mon, Mandy, let’s go,” Holly said, tugging her arm. “See you at lunch, Riley.”

  And with that, they were gone, leaving only me and Alex.

  “Hey,” I said, meeting his eyes and then I felt my cheeks redden. I looked to the ground and started walking towards my Constitution class with Alex beside me.

  “How was the rest of your weekend?” he asked as we walked.

  “Not bad. I basically stayed in my room and avoided my mother.”

  “You’d better chill out with your mom, Riley.”

  “Oh, I should, should I?”

  “Yeah. If you don’t, she won’t let you go out with me again.”

  “We’re going out again?” I said, trying to play it cool.

  “Yeah? Didn’t I tell you that?”

  I looked over to him and once again, that confident smile was spread across his face. He was so sure of himself, but he was also cute so he could get away with it.

  “Uh, no. You forgot to mention that.”

  We were at my class now and we’d stopped outside the door.

  “Well, I’m telling you now then. We’re going out again.”

  He reached up and brushed a piece of my hair out of my eyes and tucked it behind my ear.

  “I’ll see you later,” he said as his hand glided down my cheek slowly, leaving a trail of goosebumps behind and then he walked away. I found myself watching him as he left and then I shook my head and quickly walked into class.

  I found my seat and then looked across the room and noticed Adrienne glaring at me. When our eyes met, she didn’t look away, but kept staring. I finally looked away and began rummaging through my bag, digging out my homework, when Jesse walked in. He glanced up at me and then made his way to his seat. He turned around and waved, but before we could talk, Mr. Barry stood up and began lecturing about the second amendment.

  After an hour of debating the founding fathers thoughts on the right to bear arms and getting paired up with Jesse for a project on the subject, the bell rang. I gathered my things and headed towards the door, where I met up with Jesse.

  “How was your weekend?” he asked me as we made our way down the hall.

  “Not bad. What about you?”

  “Eh…” he said, shrugging his shoulders and then he turned and looked at me. “I saw Alex walked you to class this morning.” I nodded at him. “I take it things went well Saturday night?”

  “Yeah, I guess you could say that,” I said and I could feel my lips turning up into a smile as I thought back to our date.

  “Are you going out again?”

  “We haven’t made any plans, but we’re definitely hanging out again.”

  “Just be careful.” His voice was low and serious and I looked over at him and laughed.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m just saying you don’t know Alex very well.”

  “And you do?” I huffed.

  “Well…no, but…” he stammered until I interrupted.

  “Thanks for the concern, but I think I’ll be just fine. You guys are too hard on him, just because he’s popular and hot.”

  Jesse burst out laughing.

  “Yeah, that’s exactly why we’re hard on him. See ya at lunch.” He patted me on the shoulder and then turned to leave. I just shrugged at his sarcasm and headed to my locker. I quickly exchanged my Constitution book for my chemistry book and headed to the bathroom.

  When I walked inside, a girl I didn’t know was applying some lip gloss in the mirror. I ducked into a stall and when I walked out, the girl with the lip gloss was gone, and I was startled to see Adrienne had taken her place. I stopped for a moment as our eyes met, but then I continued to the sink to wash my hands.

  “Riley, right?” she finally said as she stared at me with her harsh blue eyes as I was drying my hands.

  “Yeah,” I said, throwing the paper towel into the garbage can

  “I’m Adrienne,” she said in a voice that insinuated I should be impressed.

  “I know.”

  An arrogant smile spread across her face at my recognition of her.

  “I saw you out with Alex Bettencourt this weekend.”

  “You saw correct,” I said as my patience was thinning.

  “So you had fun then? You and Alex?” she said with a derisive grin.

  “I’m sorry, but what business is that of yours?”

  “I just want you to know that while he may be having fun with you right now, he’ll always come back to me.”

  “Excuse me?” I said, having to hold back the laugh that was trying to escape my throat. This girl couldn’t be serious. She wasn’t actually confronting me in a bathroom over a guy. It was all very reminiscent of a John Hughes film from the eighties and completely ridiculous.

  “You heard me. I just wanted you to know how things are around here…since you’re new here and all.” Her voice was stern and snotty and I wanted to reach up and slap the stupid smile off her face.

  “Well, thank you for the advice, but I think I’ve got things under control,” I said as I tried to go around her, but she stepped in my path, blocking me. I just folded my arms and rolled my eyes as I waited for her next idiotic remark.

  “Ya know…everyone might be intrigued with you now because you’re like a shiny new toy or something, but soon they’ll just realize you’re just some stupid guidette and they’ll get over you.”

  She was openly sneering and I seriously couldn’t believe my ears. She was insane!

  “First of all, I think you’ve been watching too much Jersey Shore,” I said as I laughed. “I’m not even Italian, I’m Greek. But seeing how diverse this backwards hick town is, I guess we all look the same to you. And secondly, if Alex wanted to be with you, he would be with you.”

  “Just remember what I said,” she sneered, obviously ignoring my last remark as she turned around and burst out of the bathroom.

  I stood staring at the door for a second, still trying to process the outrageous scene that had just played out with Adrienne. She’d been rude since day one, but I wasn’t sure if she actually didn’t like me or if that was just her usual attitude. There was no doubt in my mind now, but I didn’t care. She wasn’t worth my time. I walked back to the mirror and straightened my hair before heading to class.

  ****

  “Ya know, Riley,” Mandy said leaning in across the table at me. “Adrienne keeps looking over here at you.”

  “I know. Just ignore her though.”

  “She’s like shooting daggers over here with her eyes,” Mandy continued.

  By this time, my whole lunch table was looking over to her.

  “Yeah, she looks even bitchier than usual,” Holly snickered.

  “Yeah, like the stick’s shoved even further up her ass than normal.”

  Laura’s last comment made everyone laugh, which Adrienne must’ve noticed and she finally looked away.

  “I recall her glaring at you in first hour too,” Jesse pointed out.

  “Well,” I said, hesitating whether or not I should tell them about the bathroom encounter and then decided I should. “Maybe it has to do with our confrontation earlier.”

  “What?” they all seemed to exclaim in union, anxious to get the dirt.

  “She basically told me to stay away from Alex.”

  “See! I told you there’d be problems,” Holly said matter-of-factly.

  “Do you think I care what she says?”

  “You really don’t care at all?” Mandy asked doubtfully.

  “No, I really don’t care. Why would I? I’ll be back in Boston in June anyway and she’ll still be here, probably knocked up or something.”

  “Yeah, I can help her with that,” Brandon piped in and Laura slugged him.

  “You are truly unbelievable,” Laura sighed.

  As Brandon and Laura continued to argue, I saw Jesse’s eyes look past me, like he was concentrating on something and then I felt a touch on my shoulder. I turned around to see Alex stand
ing above me.

  “Mind if I join you?” he asked.

  The conversation stopped and my friends stared up at him, obviously wondering why he’d abandoned his usual table for us.

  “Yeah, sure,” I said, scooting over to make room for him. He slid into the seat next to me and looked around awkwardly at everyone who was still staring at him. They all looked a bit annoyed actually that he was sitting with us, except for Mandy, who had a silly grin plastered on her face.

  “Hey,” he finally said, nodding towards them. They all mumbled back to him, but I noticed Jesse was looking at him suspiciously and I thought back to our conversation this morning. He obviously didn’t think much of Alex, but that didn’t matter, because I did.

  “How’re you doing?” he asked, leaning over and speaking quietly in my ear.

  “I’m okay,” I began hesitantly.

  “You don’t seem okay.”

  I was quiet as I debated whether or not I should tell him what had happened earlier with Adrienne. In the bathroom, I’d told myself I wouldn’t waste my energy on her, but that was becoming harder than I thought.

  “What’s goin’ on?” he said, looking over to me when I didn’t respond. “You wanna go talk?”

  I nodded and gathered up my things and stood up.

  “Be right back,” I said to my friends and then Alex and I began walking away. We stopped in a quiet corner, which offered us a little privacy.

  “Tell me what’s goin’ on,” he said as we stood staring at each other.

  “Well, I’m just going to come out with it, Alex.”

  “What? What are you coming out with?”

  “First of all, I don’t want you to think that I care what she thinks, because I don’t. I really don’t.”

  “Who are you talking about?”

  “Adrienne.”

  “I thought we talked about this the other night.”

  “Yeah, we did, but I can’t have her harassing me every day.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “This morning, after first period, she confronted me in the bathroom about you and me.” He started laughing. “You think this is funny? I don’t think it’s funny.”