by Kate Morris
Destiny was laughing at something Jane was saying as he swam up. A few of the boys were still lingering, but many had lost interest and abandoned the pursuit.
“What’s so funny,” he asked Destiny, who had the same gay smile on her face she always wore, especially around Jane.
“Jane was just saying that this was like watching sharks circling their prey, the way the guys are trying to impress all the girls.”
Roman laughed but secretly marveled that she had the same thought as he did. She just didn’t realize a lot of them had eyes, or teeth, on her. “Yeah, no doubt. Or piranha.”
“Fresh meat,” Jane observed.
She looked younger with her hair pulled on top of her head in a messy bun like it was. Destiny’s was the same. They must not have wanted to get their hair wet. He didn’t blame them. It was cold out tonight.
Destiny’s face brightened as Brian invited her to sit in the hot tub with him.
“Wanna’ come?” she asked them.
“No thanks,” Jane answered. “Go. I’m fine.”
Destiny swam away but winked at Roman as she went. He sent her a grin. She obviously knew or was figuring it out.
“Not a fan of hot tubs?” he asked.
“I’ve only ever been in one, but it wasn’t for me. I felt like someone should hand me some soap,” she said with wit.
Roman chuckled and said, “Yeah, I guess so. Silly, huh?”
She swam a few feet away to the wall of the pool near an underwater light and gripped the tile edge. Roman followed and was glad the others didn’t. Jane stayed there keeping her fingertips clinging to the ledge while Roman stood comfortably. At six-three, he could easily reach the bottom and stand without doggy paddling. He definitely got his height from his dad.
“It’d be nice to be on the beach right now,” he thought out loud.
She didn’t say anything but looked at him inquisitively.
“My grandparents live in Florida. Connor and I fly down at least two or three times a year to visit with them. They live a bike ride away from the beach,” he explained, wanting to impress her.
“Sounds nice.”
“Yeah, it’s cool. We’ll probably go down over Christmas break.”
She nodded.
“You could come with us. You’d love it.”
“What?” she asked a bit hysterically. “Are you crazy?”
“No, it would be fun. Dez could come, too. Just think, Christmas break in Florida where they string lights on the palm trees. It’s funny.”
She looked away, literally turned her body away from him as if she were angry. He hadn’t meant to upset her. The idea was probably stupid, but it was the first thought that popped into his mind. Traveling with her would be so cool. Roman swam around to the other side of her and hoisted up until he had his arm resting on the ledge. The light below them made the water seem aqua.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean that to be a dick,” he said as some of the guys at the other end of the pool got really loud.
“It’s fine. I just don’t get your motivation,” she said. “I have a hard time trusting people.”
“So do I,” he admitted.
“Really?” she asked as a bead of water ran down over her cheekbone. He had to stop himself from tracing it.
“Sure. I’ve been burned before. I get it.”
She nodded.
“You read a lot,” he revealed what he knew.
Jane’s gaze rose to his again.
Roman shrugged and explained, “I’ve just seen you in class hiding books behind your textbook. I’ve seen you carrying two or three different novels with your schoolbooks.”
“Oh,” she whispered uncomfortably.
“What do you like to read?”
“Um…” she said as if she didn’t want to offer up the truth. She was so reserved. He just wanted to know what was in her head.
“I like detective thrillers,” he said, hoping to kick off a conversation with her about her likes.
“Yeah, those are cool,” she said. “I like the classics, Dickens, Bronte, Austin, Hardy.”
“‘A truth universally accepted that a man of good fortune is in want of a wife’,” he quoted.
“You’d know. Or you will someday,” she joked. “And you totally screwed up the first line from Pride and Prejudice, by the way. Austin’s rolling in her grave.”
“Do you have a boyfriend?” he asked quietly.
“That’s not the next sentence,” she said with sarcasm.
Roman smiled but inched closer. “I’m serious. Do you? Maybe someone from the riding academy?”
“From the riding academy?” she repeated as if she were truly surprised. “Why would you say that?”
“I don’t know. Gotta have a lot of dudes hanging out there,” he phished.
“No, not really.”
“‘Not really’ as in you don’t have a boyfriend or ‘not really’ that there aren’t a lot of dudes at the barn?”
“Not a lot of ‘dudes’ at the barn,” she mocked with air quotes and smirked, exposing a dimple.
“Are you gonna answer the question?”
“Mrs. Goddard’s grandson comes down every other weekend to keep up on the maintenance stuff,” she answered.
“Comes down from where?”
“Oh, Bowling Green. He goes to college there,” she said.
“Is he your boyfriend?” he interrupted and asked.
“Noah?” she said and laughed. Her laughter was musical and light, and it caused Roman to laugh, too, although he wasn’t sure why he was joining in.
“What? Why is that funny?”
“Noah’s engaged,” she said. “I don’t think he’s into me or anyone else who’s not his fiancée.”
“Oh,” he said and watched her smile recede. “So, no boyfriend?”
“No, Roman,” she said impatiently. “You know I don’t have a boyfriend. Why do you care?”
“Curious. You could have a boyfriend outside of school, someone older. Or maybe you’re seeing someone from another school or someone you work with.”
“Yeah, that’s gonna happen. Seriously? You know my mom’s in prison, and I live with my grandmother. It’s pretty common knowledge. Everyone knows it.” His gaze dropped to her mouth as she frowned hard and looked away with embarrassment. A flush came bloomed up her neck, “It’s not like somebody’s parents are gonna approve of them seeing me.”
“Hey,” he said softly and moved in front of her so that she’d be forced to look at him. “You aren’t responsible for whatever it is that your mother did. You aren’t the same person. That’s not fair to you.”
“Fair?” she asked and looked at him with tears shimmering in her eyes. “Get real, Roman. Like you’d have any idea what it’s like to be me.”
He took a chance and floated closer, within inches of her body. Then he placed his fingers over hers on the ledge.
“Jane, I…”
A loud commotion at the other end of the pool interrupted him. It sounded like two of the guys were arguing. Then a girl screamed.
“What the hell…” he said with irritation. “Come on.”
He hefted himself out of the water in one smooth motion and reached down for Jane. She was struggling to get out, so he took both her hands. She looked up at him with uncertainty but accepted his offer of help anyway as the noise level rose. Roman yanked her easily up out of the pool and tried not to gawk down at her body. It was difficult to do when she was wearing something he’d never seen her in before. Ordinarily, she walked around in baggy clothing, jeans included. Her figure was everything he imagined it might be.
“Roman, come quick,” one of his friends screamed around the corner.
He took Jane’s hand in his in case there was danger and walked fast with her. She didn’t pull away but did give him a strange look. The second he rounded the corner, he saw the problem. Brian was grappling with Randall on the stone floor. He wasn’t sure what could’ve set this off, though, since
they were such good friends.
“Stay here,” he said to her but didn’t get a response. She, like all the other people at the party, was staring at the two boys fighting it out like gladiators. “Jane,” he said, to which she finally looked up at him. “Stay back. Stay here.”
She nodded nervously and took two steps until her back was pressed against the wall.
Roman ran over and pulled his two friends apart, after quite a lot of struggle.
“Calm the hell down!” he shouted. “What’s going on?”
Brian screamed, “He just fuckin’ attacked me, man. I don’t know. What the fuck, Randall?”
They both played football, were good friends, and always had each other’s backs. Roman figured it must have been over a girl, but Brian was interested in Destiny, and Randall already had a girlfriend.
He looked at Randall and said, “What gives, man?”
Randall didn’t answer but growled and lunged toward Brian again. Roman shoved him back with all his might. It was no easy feat since Randall outweighed him by probably twenty pounds. Roman worked out with his friends, but he didn’t play sports like them. He ran every morning, lifted in the gym during lunch like his friends, and played recreational sports but not for the school.
“Move!” Randall yelled.
“No! Stop this, bro,” Roman asserted authoritatively.
His friend’s eyes were very bloodshot as if he’d had a reaction to the pool water or something. It looked worse than just seasonal allergies. His face was pale and sweaty, probably from anger and exertion. He came straight at Roman.
“Goddammit!” Roman said and punched his friend in the jaw. He went down, and Roman felt terrible about it, but he wasn’t going to let him clobber him, either. Randall was a fairly meek guy. He didn’t fight, didn’t bully younger kids, and seemed to get along with almost everyone.
Randall jumped back up- sprang to his feet with feline finesse would more accurately describe it.
“Don’t, man,” Roman warned. “Don’t make me hit you again, dammit!”
His friend growled at them again. Apparently, he was so angry that words were eluding him. Roman held out his hand in a motion for his friend to halt. It worked, but he could tell the fight was still in him.
“Randall! Stop it!” his girlfriend cried out loudly and tried to grab his thick arm.
He turned, looked down at her, and growled again. Then he mumbled something. Whatever it was, Roman realized he was violently mad. When he realized he couldn’t get past Roman to attack Brian again, he stomped off. The situation seemed to settle down, but Brian might need stitches. By the looks of all the blood on the stone floor, Randall probably did, too. The party was officially over. Roman wanted to leave.
“Terry, let me help you clean this up,” he offered but was rejected.
“No, I got this. Just make sure he leaves,” Terry barked, trying to peer over Roman’s shoulder to see Randall.
“Yeah, he’s leaving. Vanessa’s with him. She’ll get him calmed down,” he said as Jane and Destiny came up beside him. “You okay?”
He was asking Jane, but she was staring at the blood on the floor.
She said, “Wh-what? Yeah. Fine. Are you? Did you hurt your hand?”
He looked down at his reddened knuckles and flexed his fingers, “Yeah, I’m good. Let’s get outta here.”
The girls nodded as someone turned up the music again.
“I’ll get dressed and wait for you both upstairs.”
Destiny said, “Thanks, Roman. Can you give Brian a lift, too? He said he came with Randall.”
“Absolutely,” he answered and left them to change back into his clothes.
Ten minutes later they were all gathered in the foyer, Brian included. Outside, distant thunder rumbled gently, a warning of what was sure to follow.
“Let’s go,” he said and noticed that Jane was shivering.
Brian escorted Destiny out the front door as other people left for their vehicles, too. He touched Jane’s arm as she went to pass him. Then he whipped off his jacket and wrapped it around her slim shoulders. She looked even smaller in his jacket, and Roman liked that.
“No…”
“Take it. I’m fine. Adrenaline and all.”
“Th-thanks. I forgot mine.”
“Well, it’s not like we planned on swimming or anything. I don’t want you to get sick.”
“Thanks,” she said and followed him out to his vehicle. He opened the door for her, and she mumbled another quiet ‘thanks.’
As they drove away, Roman asked his friend, “You okay? Looks like he got a few good shots at you.”
Roman watched in the rearview mirror as Brian rubbed his jaw before saying, “Yeah, it’s cool. I’ve been in worse scrapes. I’ve got two older brothers in college football, remember?”
Roman chuckled sympathetically.
“That was crazy,” Destiny commented as they drove. “What the heck were you guys fighting about? I thought you were friends.”
“We are. Or were. I don’t know,” he said and paused to think about it.
“Was it a girl?” Roman asked knowingly.
“I don’t know,’ Brian said confusedly. “We were just throwing the ball around from the hot tub to the pool, and he went off. He was shoving some of Terry’s friends; you know the ones I mean- the smaller kids, band geeks, and AV Club kids. Anyway, I don’t know, man. He just started getting really…aggressive. Then I stepped in to calm him down.”
“That apparently didn’t work,” Destiny commented.
Jane was even quieter than usual.
“He was in such a rage,” Brian said quietly. “I don’t get it.”
Roman looked over at Jane as the rain pounded down on his windshield and the thunder shook the valley. She glanced at him with an unusual expression.
They dropped Brian at his house, which was only about four or five miles from Terry’s. Then he drove them back to his neighborhood.
“I’m gonna go in and call Brian, make sure he’s okay. See ya’, Jane. Thanks for the lift, Roman,” Destiny told them before getting out and sending a wave as she ran through the rain.
A loud crack of thunder caused Jane to jump.
“Are you alright?” Roman asked after a moment.
She looked at him again as if she weren’t really seeing him but something else. Then she snapped out of it and nodded. “Yeah, fine. Thanks for the ride.”
“Hey, wait,” he said, stopping Jane by grabbing her arm. He was stalling because he wanted to keep talking to her. As he looked at her without the ambient green glow of the Range Rover’s interior lights on and just by the light of the clouded over full moon, Roman could see the beauty in her that made the other clown makeup painted girls at school hate her. She had high cheekbones, deep and hollow beneath. Her lips weren’t overly full or injected like some of the girls in their school were doing like their equally vanity-obsessed mothers, but they weren’t too thin, either. Their color was dark, although she wasn’t wearing lipstick. Her light brown hair was wet, and she must’ve taken it down from the bun while he drove them. It fell just slightly below her shoulders in soft, thick waves. It was definitely light brown, but sometimes when he saw her in the sunlight, it threw shades of copper like a dirty penny. It was a simple cut and wasn’t striped with chemically enhanced blonde highlights or purple or blue. There were lighter highlights of blonde here and there, but he knew they came from the sun, not a salon. There was a wholesomeness about her, something earthy and real, and he was unwilling to relinquish his time with her.
“What?” she asked softly and hit him with those light hazel eyes.
“What is it that has you so bothered about their fight?” he asked, curious about her reaction.
She quickly broke eye contact and looked at his hand on her sleeve. Roman took it away.
“I just think…” she said and shook her head.
“What is it?”
“Nothing. You wouldn’t get it, and I don�
��t really want to talk about this with you.”
“Why?” Roman asked, more puzzled than before.
“I need to go,” she said. “My grandmother will be wondering where I am.”
“Uh…” he stammered. “Hey, could we get together tomorrow sometime?”
“What? Why?” she asked with immediate suspicion on her face that bordered on panic.
“I’m having trouble with our English assignment,” he fumbled.
“Are you in AP English?”
“Yes, I’m in your class,” he reminded her. Great. He obviously didn’t make much of an impression. Of course, he sat with two of his friends on the right-hand side of the class eight rows away from her. She sat in the very back in the last row closest to the windows.
“Oh, okay. You mean the report we’re supposed to write on Jane Eyre?”
“Yeah, that one,” he said, although he didn’t really need help. “I was just hoping to study with someone who had some good opinions on the book. You know, just to see if I missed something.”
She swallowed hard, her eyes flitting around. She was trying to think of an excuse not to. Roman could see it written all over her face.
He pounced, “I don’t exactly hang out with intellectuals if you know what I mean. I could use the help.”
“Oh,” she said, a worry line pinching between her arched brows. “I gotta work tomorrow. Sorry.”
She wasn’t getting out of it that easy. “I could come over after.”
This really made her look uneasy.
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
She jerked the handle and got out before he could even come around and open the door for her. Roman got out and tried to catch her, but Jane jumped into her truck and drove away as he ran to the curb. That hadn’t gone well.
