Girl Lost

by Michelle Files

  “It was your fault!” I yelled.

  “You two stop it!” Adam raised his voice at us and we both stopped and stared at him.

  “Sorry,” I said. Jackson just smirked.

  I could tell right away that I wasn’t going to like him. Good looking or not, he was smug and rude. I would do my best to avoid him. I hoped he wasn’t staying long.

  “Jackson is home from college for a whole month. I sure hope you two can get along better than this,” Sarah told both of us.

  “Is he staying here the whole time? Why here?” It was obvious to everyone that I didn’t like him.

  “Because he lives here,” Adam said. “Sarah, you didn’t tell her about Jackson?” He looked at Sarah, obviously surprised.

  “No, there’s been so much going on. It really never came up. I figured we would talk about it when he got here,” She replied.

  “There’s nothing to talk about,” Jackson interjected. “I’ve lived here my whole life. It’s my house. It’s not really hers.” He said this without taking his eyes off of me again.

  “That’s not true, Jack,” Adam said. “She’s just as much a part of this family as you are.”

  “He’s your nephew? Why does he live here then?” I asked, genuinely curious.

  “Madison, we’ll talk about it later, okay?” Sarah gave a sideways glance toward Jackson.

  “No, Aunt Sarah, it’s okay, you can tell her,” Jackson said. “She’s going to hear it sooner or later anyway. Might as well be now.” He lowered his eyes when Sarah started to tell the story.

  Sarah hesitated before starting to speak. Then the story came out. “All right fine. Jackson’s parents were my sister, Jackie, and her husband. When he was 6 years old, the three of them were in a car accident. His parents were killed.” Sarah was choking back tears. “Jackson was hurt pretty bad, spent months in the hospital and went through physical therapy, but in the end he was fine. When he was released, he came to live with us. He has been here ever since. He is part of this family and we love him like a son.” She was looking directly at Jackson then. I could see a little emotion in his face as well.

  “Jackson is in college now. He wants to be a doctor. We’re so proud of him.” She smiled and I could tell it was genuine. “He’s on fall break right now for a month. So, be nice to him, Madison. We don’t really get to see him much these days.” She was glaring at me.

  I didn’t say much else during breakfast. They mostly talked to Jackson and he pretty much ignored me. But, I could see him looking over at me occasionally and I just stared blankly back. Boy, this was gonna be fun, I thought to myself.

  After breakfast, I quickly got up and went upstairs to my room. I was able to steer clear of Jackson for a couple of days, but eventually my luck would have to run out. It did.

  I got tired of being cooped up in my room, or skulking around the house, trying not to run into him. But that got really old. I told myself that I was being silly. It was my house too and I wouldn’t let him scare me into hiding in my room the whole time he was there. So, I decided to take a ride. I could use the fresh air.

  I asked Annabelle to pack me a lunch, then I headed out. She was too busy to go with me, so I went alone. My favorite times were when just Jett and I went exploring. He was great company. A great listener actually. He never interrupted me when I was venting.

  About twenty minutes into my ride I heard something behind me. I knew there were wild animals in the woods around the house and I was startled. When I saw what it was, or rather who it was, I was surprised.

  “Are you following me now?” I asked Jackson, as he rode up beside me.

  “You wish,” he shot back.

  “Then what are you doing here?”

  “I was just out for a ride. There’s a great fishing spot just a few minutes up ahead.”

  I noticed he had a fishing pole and other fishing gear packed on his horse.

  “I see,” I said.

  “Wanna come?” he asked.

  “Fishing? With you? Yeah right.”

  “Your loss,” he said and rode off ahead of me.

  “Whatever,” I muttered, as he rode out of sight. I really didn’t care what he did as long as he left me alone.

  I continued on my ride in the same direction he went. I didn’t want to run into him. I just wanted to see where he was going. It was an area I had never ridden to. Curiosity I guess.

  A few minutes later I saw him at a river. It wasn’t a huge river, probably twenty or thirty feet across. The water kind of meandered along. It was really beautiful. I had never seen it before and didn’t know it was even there. I guess I had always turned in another direction before I got there.

  Jackson was sitting on the bank, his shirt laying in a heap in the sand next to him. He was not unattractive, I guess. Ugh, that was weird, he’s my cousin. I shouldn’t be noticing if he was attractive or not. I sat there watching him for a couple of minutes before I heard him say, “Are you just gonna sit there staring at me, or are you gonna say something?” He didn’t even turn his head to look at me.

  “Uh, I, I was just looking at the river, not you.” I hoped he didn’t notice that all of a sudden I forgot how to speak.

  “Sure you were.” He still hadn’t turned to look at me, but I could hear the smile in his voice.

  A little embarrassed then, “I’m going back to the house.” I started to guide Jett back the way we came.

  “Wait,” he called after me. He stood up and was looking directly at me now. “Come have lunch with me. Annabelle packed enough for a small party.”

  I thought about it for a moment. “Come on, I won’t bite,” he added. “Come get to know your cousin.”

  When he smiled, I couldn’t say no. I was hungry, hadn’t had anything to eat for breakfast because I was still trying to avoid him at family mealtime. I relented. It would be kind of nice to talk to someone around my age besides Annabelle, for a change.

  I dismounted, tied Jett to a tree, got my lunch out of the pack and walked over to the river’s edge.

  “I told you she packed plenty of food,” he said, looking at my lunch.

  “I know, but I have my own. It’s fine,” I said as I sat down next to him, careful not to look his way.

  We ate lunch in silence, just staring out over the water. It seemed like he had something to say, but didn’t say it. And I didn’t ask. After we were done eating and cleaned up the area, I started to walk over to Jett to leave. He touched my arm.

  “Madison?” he said cautiously.

  “Yes?” I responded.

  “I want to tell you something.”

  “Okay, tell me.” I looked at his hand on my arm. He pulled it away.

  He thought for a moment about what he was going to say and I waited. I think he could tell I was getting impatient.

  “When my parents died and I came to live here, you were already gone. You had been kidnapped a couple of years or so before, so we never met. I was only six and was devastated by the death of my parents. Sarah and Adam were good to me, but it wasn’t the same. Even though you had been gone for a long time, they still spent a lot of time looking for you. And ignoring me.” He took a breath.

  “I’m sorry to hear that, but it’s not my fault.” I don’t know why I said that. I don’t think he was blaming me.

  “I know that now. But, I was a little kid and when you are little and the only two parent figures you have are spending all of their time looking for a kid that you never met, it hurts. I spent a lot of years hating you. I resented the time and attention you took away from me.”

  I started softening a little. “Why are you telling me all this?” I asked.

  “Because I want you to know. I want you to understand why I was rude to you. You don’t deserve that. I know this is all new to you and you didn’t cause any of it to happen. It’s not your fault that woman took you.”

  “No it’s not. But, I understand why you don’t like me. Let’s go.” With that, I got on Jett and rode
back to the house.

  I felt a little sorry for him. He seemed like he could be a nice guy. Maybe we could be friends at some point.

  I had never really thought about what everyone’s life was like when I was kidnapped. It must have been hell. Even though I barely knew Jackson, didn’t even know he existed until a few days ago. I could see how hurt he was. My parents obviously loved him. Maybe they took a while to get there, due to spending a tremendous amount of time looking for me. I guess that at some point they stopped looking, or at least slowed their efforts way down, and Jackson really became their ‘son.’ I couldn’t blame any of them for that. Maybe I could make a little bit of effort and be nice to Jackson.

  Chapter 11

  A few days later, Annabelle raced up to me in the hallway by my bedroom. I was on my way in to change for dinner. I tried to avoid dinner with the family as much as possible, but Adam had personally asked me that morning to be at dinner. They had something to discuss with me. I relented and agreed to be there.

  “So what’s with you and Jackson?” Annabelle just blurted out. She looked at me expectantly, like I was going to tell her something really juicy.

  I was confused and stopped for just a moment. “Nothing, what are you talking about?” I really had no idea what she meant. I started walking toward my bedroom again and she followed close behind. I could practically feel her breathing on the back of my neck and I sped up to shake her loose.

  “He’s always asking about you. ‘Where’s Madison? I need to talk to her.’ Or ‘Annabelle, do you know when Madison will get home?’” She was trying to imitate Jackson, but her tone was very accusatory.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t even seen him in a couple of days.” I was getting annoyed with her and didn’t even slow my pace. I walked into my room and stopped just inside the doorway. I turned around to face her, as if to say ‘Don’t follow me in.’ I didn’t have to say it. She got the point.

  “Well, you should watch out for him. He’s a lot of trouble,” she warned me.

  “Good to know, but there’s no reason for me to watch out for him. I don’t give a damn what he does around here. Besides, he’s not going to be here much longer. He’s going back to school soon.” With that I closed the door in her face. I wasn’t in the mood for her at that moment. I had to get ready for a dinner that I really didn’t want to go to.

  I put on a pretty pink dress and sandals and arrived at dinner a few minutes late. Sarah, Adam and Jackson were all there, yapping away. They didn’t even slow down their conversation or look my way as I walked in and sat in my usual seat, next to Jackson. Somehow that seat had gotten assigned to me, but I’m not really sure how. I didn’t look at him as I sat down. The food was already on the table, so I dug in without saying a word to them.

  After about five minutes they finally stopped talking and acknowledged my existence. How very decent of them, I thought.

  “Madison,” Adam finally said, “your birthday is coming up soon.”

  “No kidding.”

  “Okay, smart mouth, I wasn’t finished yet. Obviously you know your birthday is coming up.” He didn’t seem mad. I think he was joking with me. That was weird.

  “We want to have a party for you. Turning 16 is a big deal. Besides, we have lots of friends that we want you to meet. Some of them have sons around your age.”

  “Oh, hell no.” I got up to get out of that room as fast as I could. I actually knocked my chair over in my haste to get away. Everyone looked toward where it lay on the floor.

  “Sit down, right now. We’re not done yet.” He was getting angry. I could hear it in his voice.

  “Yes we are.” I kept walking, and didn’t care about the chair laying on its side.

  “Madison!” he yelled at me.

  I stopped short and spun around. He was standing then. I hadn’t expected that and it startled me. He took a deep breath before he said anything. I guess he needed to calm down before he said something he didn’t really want to say.

  “Listen, we have been patient with the attitude that you have had ever since you got here. We knew you needed some time to get used to everything. It was a big change for you after all. Well, it has been a big change for us too. You need to realize that. I know I can speak for everyone here when I say that we are sick of the attitude. You’ve been here for a few months now. So get over whatever your imagined grudge is and try to be a part of this family.” He sat down and I could feel all eyes on me.

  As I walked back over to my chair, Jackson jumped up and stood my chair back upright. I just looked at him in embarrassment and sat back down. I don’t think anyone had ever talked to me like that in my life and I was shocked. I had absolutely no response.

  “Good,” he said. “Now, let’s talk about your party.”

  I looked over at Jackson who was grinning at me. I think he actually enjoyed the fact that I was just yelled at and humiliated.

  “Sarah, why don’t you tell her what we have planned?” Adam gestured from Sarah to me.

  Sarah looked over at me, clearly not happy with what just transpired. I decided not to push it, so I didn’t say anything.

  “Madison, we don’t want to fight with you. We love you, and we want to have a really nice party for you for your 16th birthday. Please remember that we missed every single one of your birthdays after you turned two. So this is for us too.” She seemed sincere.

  I could see her point. I relented. “So, what kind of party do you want to do? Like a small barbecue or something?”

  “Oh, lord no. A barbecue, how cute.” Sarah was really condescending with that remark. It was not lost on me at all. “We were thinking something not too big, maybe a hundred people or so. We can have it in the ballroom.”

  “A hundred people? Holy cow, I don’t think I even know that many people.”

  “Well they will be friends of ours, and their kids. We want you to meet some young people and make new friends. We know pretty much everyone in town. We obviously can’t invite the entire town, but we can invite our close friends.”

  “You are close friends with a hundred people or so?” I figured she was exaggerating. She wasn’t. She didn’t even bother answering that question. What in the world was I going to do at a party thrown for me with a hundred people there that I didn’t even know? I certainly didn’t want to find out. I tried to protest, all in vain. Apparently the party was going to happen, whether I liked it or not.

  Can my grandparents and my friend, Charlie, come?” I threw wide, questioning eyes at them. I looked back and forth between my parents, hoping, just hoping they would agree.

  “They are not your..” Adam stopped before he finished the sentence. But it was painfully clear what he was about to say. He took a deep breath.

  Sarah jumped in. “Madison, we want it to be a party where you meet new people,” she tried to explain.

  “If they can’t come, then I won’t either.” I was adamant. I even crossed my arms and stared straight at the wall for emphasis.

  Sarah and Adam looked at each other. “All right, all right, they can come. I will personally call and invite them,” Adam reluctantly agreed.

  I smiled. “Okay, then we can have a party.” I still wasn’t happy about it, but at least I would see my grandparents and Charlie again. God, how I missed them.

  “Great, let’s get started on it. There’s a lot of planning to do.” Sarah informed us.

  Over the next two weeks, all we talked about was the party. There was so much to do. I had no idea how much preparation went into planning a birthday party at the Tyler house. At my grandparents’ house we just sent out some invitations, got a cake and some hamburgers, and let the rest just happen. It was always great fun. My 16th was going to be something else entirely. My parents had invited half the town, including the mayor, and I was getting nervous. What would I wear? How should I act? What would I talk about with all those strangers? Oh man, it was all making my stomach ache just thinking about it. Al
l of a sudden I was thinking that agreeing to the party was a really bad idea. Unfortunately, it was too late to back out.

  The whole thing was going to be a disaster, I just knew it. I wasn’t party material. I was the girl that had one friend and sat in the corner all night hoping no one noticed her. I hated being the center of attention. Unfortunately my parents didn’t know that, or didn’t care. They didn’t know me at all, or the party wouldn’t be happening. The fact is, I was scared to death. I wondered if it would be a big deal if I didn’t show up at all. I mean, there were going to be gobs of people there. Who would notice just one little person missing? Could I really get away with that? Probably not, but it was nice thinking about it. Until then, I had a party to plan. Planning my escape would have to wait.

  Sarah did most of the planning, and Jackson and I did most of the work. Well we had a lot of help from the staff, but it seemed like we were going non-stop 24 hours a day. My tutor still showed up every day for several hours. But, as soon as we were done, Sarah put me right to work. It was like she was hovering just outside the library door, waiting to pounce on me the second he said we were done for the day. I really didn’t get any time to myself at all.

  I noticed Jackson volunteering to help whenever I had a task assigned to me. It was painfully obvious that he had a crush on me. I had no idea why he liked me. He was my cousin after all and it was all just too weird. We were both strong-willed people and it brought out the worst in both of us whenever we were together. I don’t remember ever being nice to him. He drove me absolutely nuts.

  I mostly ignored him. I tried my best to avoid him, but even in that huge house, it was impossible. He seemed to sense where I was and always found me. I just couldn’t shake him. One day I had had enough.

  “Can you please stop following me around?” I finally said to him. I was kind of rude, which was not my intention. I just wanted him to stop.

  “I’m not following you. We’re both just working on the same stuff.” He seemed surprised that I confronted him. I really don’t know why he was surprised. We were always arguing about something.