Planet Urth Boxed Set

by Jennifer Martucci

  As she thought about her many blessings, she glanced at Gabriel who looked lost in thought. She stared at him, enjoyed the perfection of his profile. With every feature highlighted by golden sunlight, he appeared angelic, divine. She watched as he peered out at the spectacular landscape before him deeply deliberating, distant from their destination.

  “Hey. Where’d you go?” she asked.

  Suddenly, Gabriel’s eyes were upon her as he returned from his daydream. Puzzled, he responded. “Huh?”

  “You were, like, elsewhere a minute ago. Your eyes glazed over. I mean, you seemed kind of lost in thought. What were you thinking about?” Melissa reddened at her bold questioning.

  “I was just thinking about family and stuff like that,” he admitted.

  “You live with your dad, right?”

  “Yep.”

  “Do you have any other relatives in the United States?”

  “Not that I know of.”

  “Seriously? No crazy aunts that wear a pile of lipstick and still pinch your cheeks even though you’re seventeen?”

  “Nope. None of those.”

  “How about an uncle who farts at the dinner table and tries to blame a dog you don’t even have?”

  “Can’t say I have any of those either.”

  “Wow. So what do you do for the holidays? I mean, Thanksgiving is in a couple of weeks, where will you go?”

  “My dad does not observe Thanksgiving, or any other holidays for that matter.”

  This piece of information left Melissa reeling. Her brow furrowed as she considered Gabriel’s earthly existence without holiday celebrations of any kind. Such a world seemed bleak and empty and inconceivable. She gave her next idea little thought as overthinking it would only invite self-doubt. Brightening, she asserted “It’s settled then. You will celebrate Thanksgiving with me and my dad. I won’t take no for an answer. You’ll get to meet all my cousins and my Aunt Lorrie who wears like, a tube of pink lipstick and pinches my cheeks and my Uncle Steve who is going through a midlife crisis complete with a wig and a sports car and oh, there’s my Uncle Jack who passes gas at the dinner table and tries to blame the dog.”

  She paused and looked levelly at Gabriel before saying, “Gabriel, we don’t have a dog.”

  At that, Gabriel laughed out loud. He couldn’t seem to stop himself. Fueled by his laughter, she continued.

  “You don’t know what you’re in for. Just wait till they all start sharing stories about their childhood. My nana chimes in after a glass of chardonnay and inevitably curses which gets everyone behaving like rioting monkeys.”

  Gabriel doubled over, laughing uncontrollably. She had never heard him laugh before and was enjoying the sound of it.

  Gasping for breath, Gabriel managed, “I would be honored to spend Thanksgiving with the rioting monkeys.”

  Delighted by his acceptance of her invitation and by his infectious laughter, Melissa’s mood soared. She subtly edged closer to him. Her leg brushed his. Gabriel tensed at the contact. Melissa, sensing his tension moved away.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “For what?”

  “For, you know, getting too close. It never occurred to me that you might be gay.”

  “What? What do you mean?”

  “You know homosexual?”

  “Where would you get an idea like that?”

  Melissa’s cheeks reddened to scarlet. “Well. You know,” she fumbled. “I mean, when I just scooted closer to you and our legs touched, you stiffened, like you were uncomfortable. And the other night, you also tensed up when I kissed you on the cheek.”

  “I am not gay.”

  “Really? You like girls? I’m cool if you don’t, you know. No judgment,” Melissa added “I’m not going to lie, I’d be disappointed for other reasons but I wouldn’t, like, stop being your friend or anything.”

  “Honestly I’m not gay.”

  “So you like girls?”

  “I don’t like girls.”

  “Oh?”

  “Nope.”

  “Gabriel, I’m confused.”

  “I don’t like girls, just one in particular.”

  Crestfallen, Melissa weighed the next question she wanted to ask but was uncertain whether or not she wanted to hear the answer.

  “Is it Alexandra? I mean, I understand if it is. She’s so pretty. Every guy drools over her.”

  “No. It’s not Alexandra.”

  “A cheerleader?” Melissa asked and thought she’d choke if he said yes.

  “Definitely no.”

  Taking a deep breath, Melissa brazenly asked “May I ask who it is then?”

  “Melissa, it’s you. I like you, a lot.”

  Melissa felt her breath catch in her chest and the heat of a rosy glow burn her cheeks. Her entire body fluttered with joy.

  This time it was Gabriel who inched closer. Sitting on the wooden picnic table with their feet resting on the bench, their legs touched. Neither tensed nor attempted to move away.

  “Just to let you know, I am nothing like Kevin,” Gabriel said gently.

  “No, you certainly are not like Kevin,” Melissa agreed.

  “I don’t think you understand what I’m saying. I don’t have the same familiarities he has.”

  Confused, Melissa asked, “What, like his social circles or his athletic involvement or something?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “What? You mean his experience with the ladies?” Melissa quipped.

  “I guess you could say that.”

  “So you have no moves?” Melissa teased.

  Laughing, Gabriel answered, “Nope. Not one.”

  “That’s good to know. I mean, I don’t have any, either,” Melissa admitted. “In fact, if awkwardness were an Olympic event, I’d be a gold medalist.”

  Melissa giggled, but Gabriel did not. Apparently, he did not find her awkward. He looked at her, intensely and with profound sincerity, as if he found her to be anything but. After a brief, mutual gaze, they continued talking. They broached many topics, many of which involved their hopes after graduation, the future.

  Melissa had never talked so easily with a boy. Gabriel was different. He was a good listener and participated when she spoke by asking relevant questions, offering his opinions and laughing often. He seemed honest and at times refreshingly as nervous as she was. One conversation spawned another, and then another. They talked and talked, each discussion was fluid, effortless. The only way she knew that time had passed was when she felt the sun beating down atop her head. She guessed it was lunchtime.

  Hours had passed effortlessly with Gabriel, hours that would have been interminable if spent at school. Unaware that he had continued watching her, Melissa looked down and found herself face to face with Gabriel. She desperately wanted to lean in and kiss him on his full lips. But to her chagrin, his lips parted and began speaking.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked.

  “Starving,” Melissa answered.

  “Want to get back on the highway and find a place to eat?”

  “Sure, sounds good to me.”

  Gabriel and Melissa walked back to his SUV. He opened her door and let her in, then got into the driver’s seat. They reentered Interstate 29 and headed westward.

  The highway led them into Charming, the last exit before leaving the state. Spotting a McDonald’s restaurant, Gabriel and Melissa decided it would be their destination for lunch. They pulled off the exit and into the parking lot of the fast-food restaurant.

  Gabriel came around and opened the door for her. Each time he did this, she felt warmth within her as it was not merely a courteous gesture, but one that he performed without pretense.

  They went to the counter and bought their burgers, fries and drinks and selected a booth in the far corner of the dining area. The lunchtime rush was in full swing and the place was filled with customers, many of whom slowed to look at Gabriel. Certain that they were among a celebrity of some sort, passersby stopped to gawk and
stare. Some whispered and glanced subtly while one went as far as fumbling for her cell phone to snap a picture of him.

  Melissa studied Gabriel’s reaction to the attention. She thought that while many teens with inflated egos like Kevin would have loved the absurd flattery, Gabriel was not amused in the least. He seemed completely unaware of his exceptional good looks and the effect he had on people. Moreover, he seemed nervous and uncomfortable and asked her if she were okay with them leaving.

  She agreed to take their food to go and they left. This time, they headed eastbound on Interstate 29. The drive home would take them about an hour, just in time for Gabriel to return home without arising suspicion from his dad. So they ate while he drove.

  After finishing their food and drinks, Melissa packed up the trash and stuffed it in the bag it had come in. She would throw it away at home and leave no evidence behind for Gabriel’s father to find. She would not risk causing another argument between him and his dad that could result in further punishment. She’d done enough harm already.

  As they continued along the highway, Melissa couldn’t help but mention how people had stared back at the restaurant. She had never seen such a spectacle firsthand, much less been indirectly part of it.

  “That was weird back there. Does that happen to you a lot?” Melissa asked.

  “No. That was the first time. It was really bizarre. I felt like a fish in a fishbowl.”

  “Maybe there’s some ‘it’ guy in a gossip magazine that looks just like you or something.”

  “It’s possible. Those guys seem to be a dime a dozen.”

  “I mean, people were staring at you, and one girl even took a picture with her phone. Weird.”

  Gabriel appeared uneasy with their conversation. She wondered if the brand of handsomeness he was blessed with was commonplace in the Russian Far East and that such gawking was absurd. She found herself speculating that perhaps he was a celebrity overseas and came to the states to escape the paparazzi. She knew it was a farfetched theory, especially since Gabriel seemed far too well-adjusted to be a famous person of any sort. He had neither a shred of arrogance nor an overinflated sense of self-importance, two components she deemed synonymous with celebrity. He offered his estimation, interrupting her wild guesswork.

  “You’re probably onto something with your ‘it’ guy theory. We’ll have to do some research and scour not only the gossip magazines but the gossip shows, too,” he joked.

  “I think I’d rather have algebra homework.” She paused a moment then added, “Besides, I’ve tweaked my theory. I think maybe you’re the cutest guy they’ve seen in a while and in our celebrity-obsessed society, they figured you must be somebody, even if they didn’t know who, and they didn’t want to miss an opportunity to be like the paparazzi.”

  Melissa blushed after blurting out that she found Gabriel attractive. She turned to look out the window so he would not see her embarrassment at her admission.

  “That’s interesting,” Gabriel replied as he slid his hand over and offered it to Melissa. With butterflies storming in her belly, Melissa accepted his hand and held it the rest of the way home.

  She struggled to contain the excitement that bubbled within her. She smiled continuously until her face ached as the Explorer navigated Interstate 29 to Harbingers Falls. Sadness enveloped her fully as Gabriel turned off Route 9 and onto Cornwall Road. From there he drove to Top Hill Road and her heart sank even further when he turned onto Blackstone Drive signifying the end of their afternoon together.

  She was back in reality where school and Kevin Anderson awaited her the next day. As if sensing her anxiety, Gabriel gave her hand a gentle squeeze when he pulled into her driveway.

  “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at school,” she said softly and released his hand.

  “Can I pick you up for school?” he asked.

  Brightening, she said, “Sure!”

  “Great. I’ll pick you up at 6:00,” he said enthusiastically.

  Laughing, she said, “Yeah, umm, that’s a little early.”

  “I know it is,” he said and lowered his eyes to his lap. “It’s just that, I, well, I just want to be with you.”

  For a moment, Melissa wondered whether she’d heard him correctly. Surely, he couldn’t have just said he wanted to be with her straightaway. Boys were never that honest, or that sweet. They played games and delayed calling after dates. They never flat-out said what they felt.

  “Do you want to be with me, too?” Gabriel asked nervously and his words set her heart pounding madly against her ribs. Her mouth went dry and she could not catch her breath. She feared she would hyperventilate.

  When finally her breathing steadied enough for her to speak, she said, “I want to be with you, too.”

  Gabriel’s glorious features brightened. “How about six forty-five?” he asked. “I’ll tell my dad I’m doing something school related. I’ll be creative.”

  “That sounds great,” Melissa said as her pulse accelerated wildly once more.

  “See you tomorrow morning,” he said and seemed as reluctant to leave as she felt about him leaving.

  “See you tomorrow,” Melissa she said and echoed his words.

  Every cell in her body screamed at once, urging her to reach across the console and wrap her arms around Gabriel’s broad shoulders. She wished she were forward enough to do it, wished her cheeks didn’t blaze at the mere thought of it. But she was who she was, and she did not dare act on the impulse. Besides, she did not want to risk ruining whatever was developing between them. So she waited as he walked around to the passenger side of his car and opened the door for her. He said good-bye to her and watched as she slowly walked up the stone pathway to her front door. As she watched him wave then drive away, she realized that six forty-five could not come soon enough.

  Chapter 4

  Melissa shut the front door then rushed to the kitchen window and peeked out it. She made it just in time to see the tail end of Gabriel’s truck disappear. Seeing him go generated a pang of sadness so powerful, it radiated throughout her entire being. She missed him, plain and simple, and would have to wait more than twelve hours to see him again. Twelve hours seemed like eternity. She needed to find a way to pass the time. She needed to busy herself.

  She slung her backpack over the back of a kitchen chair and set about inspecting the house, intent on finding a distraction. Loads of laundry needed to be done, the dishwasher needed to be filled and run and the floors looked as though they could stand to be swept and mopped.

  She busied herself with housework that took far too little time to complete. Before long, she found herself wandering to the family room at the rear of the house.

  Each time she entered the room, she felt a blend of equal parts relief and grief. The room had been her mother’s favorite. Added when Melissa was three, it had not been part of the original construct. It was a playroom during Melissa’s earlier years and was now a cozy TV room.

  Her mother, Jennifer Martin, influenced every article of the room. Her image gazed out from framed photographs that filled the interior wall and offered the story of a happy family of three. Such pictures comforted Melissa on most days but pained her on others.

  In this particular room, her mother still existed. The happy family was still intact, even if only in pictures. It was as if the cancer had never claimed her mother.

  Growing up she imagined her mother looked out beyond the glass, past the void and into the room. She dreamed that her mother lived beyond her grasp but still in sight. As she grew to be a teenager, such notions were abandoned and replaced with the bitter truth: the photographs held no cosmic magic. They did not exist as a portal between two worlds. They were simply representations of the past.

  She stepped into the family room. Her feet were immediately greeted by thick, plush carpeting that cushioned her every step. She looked about the space. Long and rectangular and decorated in various shades of brown, the room ran the length of the house.

 
She moved past the entryway, each tread protected and supported by the plush carpet. Selected by her mother, the tan carpet maintained near-new quality. Her mother lovingly deep-cleaned them regularly to keep them clean for her daughter and to uphold the best possible appearance of the fibers.

  The carpet, nearly fourteen years old, was still meticulously maintained by her father who believed that preserving his late wife’s routine preserved her presence.

  And preserve it he did as Melissa’s mother even existed in the furniture that outfitted the room. An inviting leather sectional, selected before her death, still occupied the far-right corner of the room and was positioned in front of their forty-inch plasma screen television.

  Along the internal wall where the television stood and the photographs hung, a simple, inexpensive desk resided. The cherry wood stained table was two tiered and wobbled dangerously. It housed the family computer. Though different from the computer her mother had sat at while earning her Associate’s Degree online, the current model closely resembled the former.

  The shaky bureau, assembled by her father, had endured countless wallops. Many nights of frustrating Internet poker tournaments provided ample opportunities for him to whack, bang and smash his hand against it adding to its instability. Fortunately, a sleek laptop computer served as a portable workstation and homework center for Melissa as opposed to the sad, sagging desk.

  Passing the desk and pausing to study her mother’s smiling face frozen in time and preserved by a simple wooden frame, Melissa sat on the welcoming sofa. Enveloped in the soft folds of its fibers, she relaxed. After locating the remote control, she turned on the television. But just as she positioned herself in the cushions, her cell phone sounded and indicated that a message awaited her.