by Kate Harre
Annie flopped back on the carpet with a feeling groan. ‘Guys! Can we please talk about something else?’
‘Sure. Do you have a dress yet?’
And so it went on…
*
Maria had left a delicious smoked chicken, sundried tomato and feta salad in the fridge, which Alex had served up with crusty bread at the more informal kitchen table, rather than in the dining room that looked like it could happily host a presidential banquet. He was a big eater, which wasn’t surprising considering how physically active he was. Between the two of them they polished off all the salad and bread, before digging into the chocolate brownie Annie had made that morning, which was still slightly warm.
‘Damn, you’re a good cook,’ Alex murmured appreciatively. His tongue snaked out and collected a stray crumb from the corner of his mouth. The innocent move did strange things to Annie, her stomach doing a funny little back flip, which she did her best to ignore. Her plan had been to get to know Alex purely on a friendship level. They were both damaged in their own ways and could offer each other support, company and understanding. And yet, the more she got to know him the more attracted to him she was becoming… and she didn’t know what to do about it. She kind of wanted to talk to him about it, but he was so hung up about his face he probably wouldn’t believe her.
She shrugged off her thoughts, both physically and mentally. ‘I like baking. Mum’s not that great in the kitchen so out of necessity I learnt how to cook and I really enjoy it. Now I’m more confident, I like to experiment a bit but I didn’t have time this morning.’
‘Feel free to experiment on me anytime you like – I love food pretty much any way it comes.’
Annie smiled. ‘I just might do that. Mum is usually so distracted she doesn’t notice what she’s putting in her mouth.’
Alex reached for another piece of brownie. ‘I won’t have that problem.’ His teeth sank into the soft centre and he moaned appreciatively. ‘How was your girls’ day?’
‘Informative in some respects. Horrendous in others!’ Her eyes followed the movement of his throat as he swallowed. Catching herself, she shook her head to try and clear her thoughts again.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘Let’s just say I don’t get what the big deal about Prom is.’ Annie propped her elbows on the table with a sigh. ‘I guess I’m just not a girlie girl.’
Alex snorted. ‘Your nails suggest otherwise.’
She glanced at her fingernails, which had started out vivid blue until Caroline had decided to glam them up a bit – she was now sporting silver tips. The combination was striking and a little bit retro. She smiled sheepishly. ‘That’s what you do when you’re hanging with the girls.’
‘So who are you going with?’ Alex asked casually, dusting icing sugar off his fingers with extreme concentration.
‘Argh! Not you too!’
‘What?’ He threw his arms up defensively.
‘I’m not going with anyone, although apparently that’s not allowed so I suspect by the end of the week I’ll have a date,’ she said in exasperation.
‘Oh.’
Annie looked at him sideways and suddenly her stomach was flooded with butterflies. ‘I, uh… I don’t suppose you’d go with me?’
Alex’s jaw dropped and he took a few moments to gather himself. ‘You wouldn’t seriously want to go to Prom with me looking like this?’
She studied his damaged face, so used to being around him she barely noticed the scars anymore. ‘Actually, I would. I’d have fun with you, which would be heaps better than being set up with someone I don’t know.’
Something flickered in his eyes; she couldn’t tell what, before he carefully veiled them. He swallowed hard. ‘You have a hell of a lot of courage – more than I’ve got.’
‘That’s not true. I’m being entirely selfish really… I like being with you, that’s all.’
He glanced away but she could read the tension in the set of his shoulders. He didn’t want to disappoint her, but fear kept him from agreeing. ‘I’m sorry, Annie, but I can’t.’
‘I know.’ She’d known it was impossible, but she’d had to ask anyway… just in case. His right hand was clenched into a fist on the table and she reached out to wrap both her hands around it. ‘It’s okay, Alex. I understand.’
His head bowed. ‘I wish it could be different; that I could be different, but…’
He looked so defeated, his earlier light-heartedness gone. ‘Alex, look at me.’
Slowly, he lifted his head. Annie bit her lip in distress at the sight of his vulnerable eyes. ‘I shouldn’t have asked you when I knew you wouldn’t be able to. I’m sorry.’
‘No. I’m glad you asked. You’ll never know how much it means that you can look past all this.’ He gestured at his face. ‘Maybe one day I’ll be able to look past it.’
Annie smiled and let go of his hand. ‘Shall I tell you what else we talked about yesterday?’
He shook his head. ‘In a minute. First, I want to know if you have a dress yet,’ he said, uncannily echoing Mikayla’s words from yesterday. ‘If I can’t be at Prom, I at least want to know what you’re going to look like.’
‘Oh.’ Annie was momentarily nonplussed. Alex was interested in what she was going to wear? It was kind of sweet really… and totally unexpected. ‘Um, I don’t know yet. Chelsea and I are going shopping next Saturday in Charlotte. But it will probably be something black, maybe blue if I’m feeling adventurous.’ Chelsea would no doubt choose something dramatic and give Annie a hard time for her conservative choice.
‘You should wear red,’ Alex said quietly. ‘With your dark hair and ivory skin, you’d look amazing in red.’
‘You think?’ Annie squeaked.
‘Definitely. Will you do that for me… find a red dress?’ he asked in the same soft tone.
‘Um, okay… I guess.’
‘And not dark red, either,’ he said knowingly. ‘It’s got to be a bright, fire engine red.’
Annie scowled. ‘Did you want to dictate my underwear as well?’ she drawled sarcastically.
His eyes flared and he had to clear his throat before answering. ‘Don’t tempt me!’
She rolled her eyes. ‘Are we done with Prom talk now? I’d really like to tell you about something else we talked about.’
Alex grinned lazily and leaned back in his chair, the picture of relaxed satisfaction. Why did guys always get such pleasure from making girls uncomfortable? ‘By all means, please go ahead.’
Annie filled him in on the girls’ theories around Danielle’s death. ‘So what do you think?’
‘It sounds plausible. Danielle wouldn’t have driven to the party, right?’
‘Actually, I don’t know.’
‘Let’s assume she didn’t.’ Alex rose to his feet and wandered over to the coffee machine, lifting a cup and raising his brow in question at Annie while he kept talking. She nodded yes. ‘She either got a lift home with someone from the party or she called a taxi. Either that, or she walked, but I imagine someone who was afraid of the woods wasn’t likely to walk home alone in the dark.’
‘Right, so we either have a psycho taxi driver or it has to be someone who was at the party.’
‘There’s only one taxi driver in Ridgeville – Earl. He’s about seventy and gentle as a lamb, so I think we can eliminate him.’ He placed a steaming cup of coffee in front of Annie and then returned to the machine to make his own.
‘Which leaves us with someone at the party.’ Annie frowned. ‘I talked to all the cheerleaders and the basketball players and they were all right there until the end of the party – or so they say. And I can’t exactly go and re-interview them since I’m not the police.’
‘Maybe there were others at the party,’ Alex suggested. ‘Everyone’s got smartphones; there must have been photos taken that night.’
‘Probably, but where do I get the photos from. No one’s going to let me look through their phone.’
<
br /> Alex smiled. ‘Facebook, Princess. Teenagers these days can’t take a step without posting it on Facebook, so I’m sure there will be photos of the party.’
‘I’m not Facebook friends with any of that crowd; are you still… you know?’
Picking up the coffee he’d made himself, he nodded stiffly. ‘I never post anything myself but since no one’s un-friended me I can still check in on what’s going on in the real world.’ He shrugged awkwardly and averted his gaze. ‘Sometimes I like to see what normal kids are up to.’
Annie bit her lip. Like a child with their face pressed up against the glass of a candy shop window, Alex longed for what he couldn’t have. ‘You must get lonely sometimes.’
Alex shook off his melancholy and grinned at her crookedly. ‘Not so much since you barged into my life.’
‘I did not barge!’ Annie spluttered indignantly.
‘You were pretty pushy though.’ He took a sip of his coffee to hide his smile. ‘I thought you were going to stage a sit in if I didn’t show you my face.’
Annie thought of that day in the forest and grimaced. She had been pushy, determined to find out his secret. ‘Sorry,’ she said guiltily. ‘I didn’t mean to railroad you.’
Dumping his mug in the sink, Alex sauntered over to her and ruffled her hair playfully. ‘Since I’m no longer withering away from boredom and loneliness, I can’t exactly say I regret your stubbornness.’
‘I’d rather call it tenacity.’
He grinned, but didn’t tease her any further. ‘Come on. It’s about time I gave you a tour of the rest of the house and then we can tackle Facebook.’
Annie had seen most of the ground floor but was surprised to discover a huge indoor swimming pool, spa and sauna complex. Through the glass surrounding the room she could also see an outdoor swimming pool and covered veranda with an extensive barbeque and outdoor kitchen. There was even a fire pit to complete the perfect summer hang out. No wonder Alex’s classmates had flocked around him despite his other less appealing characteristics at the time.
She hadn’t been upstairs yet and was excited to see what else the house held to keep Alex entertained in his self-imposed prison. He led her to the top of the staircase where there was a large open landing dividing the two wings of the house. The view through the full-length windows took in most of the town and the beginnings of the forest. This was probably where Alex had stood and watched her walk into the woods day after day, waiting him out.
‘I can see my house from here,’ she murmured, wandering over to take in the full view.
Alex came up beside her, standing close, his arm almost but not quite brushing her shoulder. She forgot how tall he was until he stood next to her like this. ‘Which one is it?’
She pointed at one of the larger homes off to the right, a couple of streets back. ‘The one with the grey roof.’
‘With the panoramic windows in the top storey?’
Annie nodded. ‘That’s Mum’s studio. It was all those windows that sold her on the house – she’s got almost a three hundred and sixty degree view of the town and forest, plus lots of light. As an artist, what’s not to love?’
‘I bet she’s up there now, right?’
‘Almost certainly.’ Turning her back to the view, she contemplated the two wings. ‘Which way first?’
Alex pointed to the left and opened the first door off the hallway into a dark room. He flicked a switch and light flooded a huge home cinema room, with a projector screen taking up most of the far wall and comfortable reclining chairs laid out symmetrically before it. Standing against the wall closest to the door was a massive tiered shelf filled with DVDs and CDs. Annie wandered over and trailed her fingers along some of the numerous movie titles. The eclectic collection ranged from Hollywood action and comedy flicks all the way through to independent art-house and foreign films. There were plenty of titles on her wish list – a back-to-back movie marathon was definitely on the agenda!
The next door opened into what Annie thought of as a games room, complete with pool table, mini-bar and an enormous flat-screen television with more gaming consoles hooked up to it than Annie had ever seen in a single room. She raised a brow at Alex, who shrugged as if to say he had no defence.
The rest of the wing was devoted to guest bedrooms and, at the end of the hall, a staircase leading to the third floor.
‘What’s upstairs?’
‘Maria’s apartment, plus a couple of extra guest bedrooms if we need them.’ His mouth twisted. ‘Which we don’t these days.’
The room on the left of the other wing led into a study come library, with floor to ceiling bookshelves lining three of the four walls and a long mahogany table surrounded by dark brown leather bucket seats taking up the centre of the room. An Apple computer screen big enough to be a television sat in the centre of the table, which was scattered with notepads, pens and various text books, some of which Annie recognised from her own classes. This must be where Alex did his long distance learning. There was a warmth to this room that was absent from many of the others, which Annie put down to the plethora of worn old books lining the shelves, interspersed with new titles. She wandered slowly around the room, examining the books, idly pulling one out from time to time. She was particularly drawn to the history section.
‘I love this room – it’s a reader’s paradise,’ she murmured with a little “squee” of delight.
Alex was leaning against the doorframe watching her meander around the room. ‘From the look on your face I’m gathering you’re one of those readers.’
She nodded enthusiastically. ‘I’ve always loved to read. When I couldn’t get back to sleep after living through a particularly horrendous murder the escapism of a good book kept me sane. Or sanish anyway,’ she said with an impish grin.
‘I used to think reading was a pastime for nerds,’ he admitted, crossing his arms defensively over his broad chest, the action pulling the fabric of his polo shirt tight around his biceps. Annie swallowed hard. ‘But in the last year I’ve been steadily working my way through the books in here.’
‘Any favourites?’ she asked, trying to distract herself.
‘I’m partial to Lee Childs and I’m loving the Game of Thrones series. But I also enjoy some of the older stuff like The Great Gatsby.’
‘Really?’ Annie grimaced. ‘I know it’s meant to be an American Classic and I tried really hard to like it, but I just couldn’t see why it was so great. I mean most of the characters sucked and there was no justice for Gatsby.’
Alex grinned and pushed away from the doorframe. ‘Ah Princess… you’re a romantic and you need a happy ending,’ he murmured. ‘Come on, I’ll show you my room and then we can come back here and do our research.’
‘It’s not that I have to have a happy ending,’ Annie protested as she followed him out of the room. ‘I just like the bad guys to get what they deserve in the end. It’s not right for people to get away with doing the wrong thing, while the good guys lose out.’
‘But that’s life. Things don’t always turn out the way we’d like them to.’ He stepped back so she could precede him into his room. ‘Of all the murders you’ve witnessed, was every killer caught?’
‘No. But that’s why I like books to at least have better endings,’ she argued. ‘The whole point of reading is to shut the door on the real world for a while and step into a world where anything can happen – even the impossible.’
‘Like I said, you’re a romantic,’ Alex said with a crooked smile. ‘I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. In fact, it’s kind of cute.’
‘Cute!’ Annie huffed but didn’t pursue the argument. She was much more interested in seeing what Alex’s sanctuary would reveal.
The colour scheme in his room was darker than the rest of the house - the walls were painted a dark grey and the curtains were navy blue and grey stripes. A white ceiling prevented it from being overpoweringly dark and gloomy. It was very masculine and suited him. It was also huge. A king si
ze bed sat in the centre of the far wall, between two large bay windows, effectively dividing the room into zones. One side of the room had been made into an intimate reading nook with a comfortable armchair, ottoman and a side table stacked with books and magazines. Annie wandered over and examined what he was reading. A Ben Elton book was top of the pile of books but sitting on the ottoman was a car magazine, folded open on a photo of a gleaming black Maserati.
Annie looked over at Alex. ‘Is this the next car on the wish list?’
He smiled ruefully and nodded.
‘Nice.’
The other section of the room revealed yet another side to Alex, and Annie marvelled at his many and differing interests. Two guitars stood in stands beside a drum stool – one acoustic, the other electric. Sheet music was scattered on the floor and on top of the state of the art stereo system, along with a couple of picks.
‘Is this another recent interest or have you been playing for a while?’
‘A while,’ he admitted with a self-conscious shrug. ‘I don’t like to play in front of people, so no-one ever knew I had an interest in music.’
His comment belied the confidence he’d obviously exuded in his former exulted social status and was yet another intriguing aspect of his personality. She was discovering there were many layers to Alex and while he may have considered himself shallow, Annie certainly didn’t think that was the case.
‘You used to play sport in front of people, so why not music?’
‘It’s different.’ His gaze shied away from hers and he shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. ‘Music makes you vulnerable. You have to draw on your emotions to be any good and I’ve never been very adept at sharing that kind of stuff with anyone.’
Annie nodded in understanding. She was no stranger to what music demanded from a person. Her Dad poured his heart and soul into everything he played and while he found it cathartic, not everyone was comfortable with expressing that depth of feeling to an audience.
She gestured at the Blizzard poster on the wall. ‘You’re a fan.’