Chris Miller’s family owned a log lodge on Stevens Lake thirty miles from town. Every year his parents attended a business conference and left Chris home alone. So every year Christ threw the biggest, craziest party of the school year. As Mark drove up to the house Emma looked out the window at all the students piling out of their cars. She had a feeling that Chris had outdone himself this year.
Emma could hear the music bursting out of the windows and open doors from half a mile away, accompanied by the yells and screams of half the student population. Emma’s courage deserted her as soon as she saw the crowds of people gathered around on the front lawn of the house.
More and more spilled out of the doorway every second. If it had just been her she would have turned around and driven home but Mark and Amy were expecting her to stay. And, a treacherous part of her mind whispered, somewhere in there Jason was looking for her too.
Mark hit the brakes, swearing under his breath as a group of guys ran out into the road right in front of his truck. The headlights of Mark’s truck were like a spotlight for their childish antics as they jumped around, wrestling with each other as they crossed the road toward the party.
Emma looked at Mark’s face, wondering what his reaction to all this would be. He didn’t go to things like this. As far as she knew Mark didn’t really have any other friends besides for her. He was just a quiet guy who liked to keep to himself. Mark shook his shaggy brown hair out of his face, then he pushed up his glasses that had slipped down his nose. He looked tense and annoyed, but that might have had something to do with the complete lack of parking spots available and how many times people had jumped out in front of his car.
“I should have just hit them.” Mark muttered, as the guys wrestled their way across the road.
Emma grinned but didn’t say anything. He slowly began driving forward again, not even bothering to turn into Chris’s long driveway. All the cars parked along the street were a pretty good indicator that there was no chance of getting a spot next to the house.
Emma looked down at her lap, suddenly feeling nervous. This had been a stupid idea. She wasn’t friends with these people. These were Morgan’s friends, the ones who stared at her as she walked by and whispered when her back was turned. At best they didn’t even know she existed, at worst they probably thought she was a freak just like Morgan said she was.
Emma tugged at the skirt she was wearing, already regretting letting Amy talk her into buying it yesterday. It was cream colored, mid-thigh length with layers that flared out when she spun. Amy had coaxed her into buying it when Emma had been excited about going to the party and loved the idea of looking pretty. Now she felt defensive and would have given anything to be in a good pair of jeans. Or even better to be back home in her comfy sweats. Emma pressed a hand against her temple, hoping to relieve some of the pressure in her head.
“Finally, a place to park!” Mark said suddenly, breaking the silence in the car. Emma jumped a little, looking up from her lap to see where they were. Mark had pulled into the field across from Chris’ house with a bunch of other cars and parked next to a bright red jeep. Only trucks, jeeps and hummers were able to jump the curb, anyone driving a smaller car had to keep driving until they found an open spot on the side of the road.
Mark jumped out of his car, a smug smile on his face.
“I love this truck.” He said, grinning back at Emma who was still sitting in the cab of the truck. “Well, come on!” Mark exclaimed. “Let’s go.”
Emma reluctantly opened her door, holding her skirt down with one hand as she awkwardly jumped out of the truck. Luckily she wasn’t wearing heels or Mark would have had to carry her across the field. She was accident prone at the best of times, in heels she was a walking catastrophe. And that was on level surfaces. Mark waited patiently as Emma straightened her outfit and gathered her courage before joining him on the other side of the truck.
“Are you sure you want to go to this party?” Mark asked when she walked up to him. He ducked his head to get a better look at her face. “We can just go home if you want.”
Emma smiled at him reassuringly. “We’re already here, we might as well go inside. Besides, Amy will be upset if I don’t at least make an appearance after she spent so much time coordinating my outfit.” Emma said with an exaggerated wave at her skirt.
Mark slung an arm around Emma’s shoulders in a brotherly fashion. The top of Emma’s head barely reached his shoulder and his arm was so heavy it almost knocked her off balance. A small part of her brain pointed out that his arm felt a lot heavier than it should have. “It would be a shame not to let people admire you when you look so beautiful.” He said, giving her a slight squeeze.
“You are such a liar.” Emma laughed. She craned her neck to look up at Mark. “You know, I never realized how absolutely tiny I am next to you. You’re huge.”
Mark gently pushed her away, laughing as she almost tripped on her own feet before he reached out and steadied her with a hand under her elbow. “Really? Because I realize it all the time. You’re like a little munchkin. Or an adorable puppy that trips over itself.” He said, pinching her cheek.
Emma swatted his hand away. “Careful, puppies bite.” She warned. Emma paused. “Munchkins do too, now that I think about it.” She added thoughtfully.
“I would like to see you try.” Mark said with a grin. Emma wisely chose not to accept that challenge and instead started walking towards the house.
Amy was waiting outside for them as they approached the party. She was talking to a few of the guys on the wrestling team but when she saw Emma, Amy raced over and nearly tackled her in an enthusiastic hug.
“I can’t believe you’re here!” She exclaimed. “I’m so glad you came! We’re going to have so much fun tonight!”
Emma laughed at Amy’s exuberance and felt herself relax a little. As long as she stuck around Amy she would be fine.
“You look great by the way!” Amy said, yelling a little to be heard over the music and the crowds. “I told you the skirt would be perfect! Come inside, we’ll get you a drink!”
Amy grabbed Emma’s hand and pulled her towards the house. Emma cast a helpless look over her shoulder at Mark but he just shrugged and followed the two girls as they pushed through the crowd. Inside, girls stood huddled together in tight circles talking and laughing while guys played video games and did stupid stunts. Red cups were everywhere, covering tables, knocked over on the floor, stacked on the stairway. Some were even in people’s hands. Everyone was packed so tightly together that it was impossible to move without running into someone.
As they made their way through the crowd kids from their school stared at Emma, obviously surprised to see her there. Amy’s grip on Emma’s hand became a lifeline that she clung to as they moved closer towards the kitchen.
Amy smiled at her over her shoulder as she squeezed past a group of girls who were staring at Emma, showing expressions ranging from confusion and disbelief to annoyance. Emma half-heartedly returned Amy’s smile before looking over her own shoulder for Mark. Luckily he was head and shoulders taller than most people in the room so he was easy to spot. That reassured Emma a little bit as Amy kept leading her further into the house.
In the kitchen there were four large red water coolers on the counters and the kitchen table was covered with bags of red cups. Groups of people surrounded all of the water coolers, everyone shoving their cups forward so that they could get a drink first.
“You want a drink?” Amy shouted above the crowd, pausing by the kitchen.
Emma shook her head. “No, I’m good.”
Amy laughed and pulled Emma towards one of the water coolers anyways. “Trust me, if you don’t want to spend half the night telling people you don’t want a drink then you should always be holding one in your hand. You don’t have to drink it if you don’t want to.”
Snagging two cups from the table Amy smiled flirtatiously at a big football player standing by one of the coo
lers. The football player straightened up and immediately pushed the crowd back so she could slip in and fill the cups with what looked like red Kool-Aid.
“Thanks!” Amy said, smiling sweetly at him.
“No problem.” The guy replied, giving her a wink.
Returning to Emma, Amy handed her one of the drinks then smoothly turned to lean against the kitchen counter and take a sip of her own. Emma raised an eyebrow at her.
“Nicely done.” Emma smirked.
Amy tossed her long blonde curls over one shoulder and grinned at Emma. “And you think being a flirt is a bad thing.” She said playfully.
Emma rolled her eyes at Amy but couldn’t stop herself from smiling. Looking around the room Emma was amazed at how many people were there. As she scanned the crowd a pair of bright blue eyes locked with hers. Loraine smiled mockingly from across the room, tipping her cup towards Emma in a sarcastic salute.
Feeling suddenly overwhelmed by the crowd pressing in around her Emma desperately looked around for an escape. Across the living room packed with teenagers was a door leading out to the back porch. Emma leaned towards Amy and yelled, “I’m going outside for a few minutes to get some fresh air. I’ll be back soon!”
Amy nodded. “Do you want me to go with you?” She yelled back.
“No, it’s fine. You have fun here.” Emma said.
She waved at Amy and turned to merge into the crowd that was gathered in the living room. Within seconds Emma was disoriented. Music pounded in her ears, fighting to be heard over the shouts and yells of all the kids there. It was so loud Emma had a difficult time thinking. The music just filled all the space in her head until there was no room for anything else.
Bodies shifted and moved around her, bumping into her and stumbling into her path so she had to constantly be on guard for stray hands or elbows that might hit her, or worse, her drink. Finally she saw a gap to the door open in the crush of bodies. Emma dove forward, squeezing her way through just as someone shifted to close the gap. Emma’s hand landed on the door handle and with a victorious smile she opened the door and slipped out onto the porch.
The twilight breeze rushed into the house past her as she stepped outside. The wind felt cool on her warm cheeks, a welcome relief from the cloying warmth of the house. Emma took a deep breath, allowing the cool breeze rush into her lungs. The suffocating feeling she had been battling eased a bit with each breath she took of the cool fresh air. She had only been outside for a few seconds and she could already feel herself relaxing.
The porch was a wide expanse of space that stretched the length of the back of the house. The lodge was built on a hill so the first floor was actually the top floor and the bottom floor was built into the ground. Plastic lawn chairs littered the porch for the guests to sit on.
Emma wasn’t the only one who seemed to have a hard time with the crowd and the noise. A few couples leaned against the porch railing, cuddling as they looked out over the romantic scene. Groups of friends stood in circles where they could find space on the porch as they talked and laughed.
Emma found an open spot along the railing to lean against, and wandered over to it. She placed her drink on the rough wood and propped her elbows on either side of it as she dropped her chin into the palm of her hand and stared out at the lake pensively. It was a beautiful view from the porch and Emma sighed appreciatively as she soaked in the scenery.
Pine trees framed the sides of the backyard, casting a beautiful border of the view with deep sweeping branches that swayed in the breeze. A thin strip of smooth pebbles separated the emerald green grass of the backyard from the dark smooth surface of the lake. The water was so still it looked like glass as it reflected the moon and the stars. For one moment the noise of the party faded away and it was just Emma, the lake, and the breeze that connected them.
A large hand grabbed Emma’s shoulder and she bit back a scream, whirling around to see who it was.
“Emma!” Jason exclaimed, pulling her into a big bear hug. “You came! I didn’t think you would. You never called me.”
Emma’s stomach lodged itself somewhere in her throat as she returned his hug. “Yeah, well, I didn’t really have anything else going on tonight.” She said distractedly. Crushed against his chest like she was, she could smell the musky but slightly sweet scent of Jason’s cologne. Sparks began going off in her stomach and she quickly put her hands on his chest to gently ease out of his hug.
Emma wished she didn’t react so badly to his presence, the butterflies and the shocks to her system were hard enough to handle. Knowing that she felt like this for the guy Morgan was trying to date was even worse though. As Emma looked into his smiling face she couldn’t help but wish that she was the one he was involved with, not Morgan. Except there was that inexplicable sense that there was something different about him, something she didn’t know and that made it hard to relax around him.
“As flattering as your reason is, I’m still glad you’re here.” Jason said drily. “Are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost or something.” He asked, bending down so he could see her face more clearly.
“Oh, yeah I’m fine.” Emma said, shifting away from his probing gaze. She looked away, not wanting to make eye contact with him. She wasn’t a very good liar.
Jason leaned against the railing next to her and took a sip out of a water bottle he was holding. Emma gave him a cheeky look and nudged him playfully with her shoulder.
“Where’d you get that?” She teased him.
Jason tilted the water bottle in his hands and looked down at it. Glancing at Emma out of the corner of his eye, his lips quirked in a crooked smile.
“I snuck it in.” He confessed.
Emma’s bangs slipped over her eyes and she blew them back with an irritated exhalation. “I wish I had thought of that.”
“Really?” Jason raised his eyebrows in surprise, looking down at the cup in Emma’s hand.
She lifted it in a silent toast, her lips twisting in a wry smile. “Amy.” She said simply.
“Ahh.” Jason nodded knowingly.
They stood silently for a moment, both leaning against the railing looking out at the lake. Emma snuck a glance at him out of the corner of her eye. He looked good tonight, dressed in a sharp white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and pushed past his elbows. The white shirt contrasted with his dark blue jeans and dark leather belt. Effortlessly handsome.
Emma sighed and looked down at the rough wood of the railing. She had no idea how to talk to a guy like him. Emma scrambled to think of something to say that would ease the awkwardness she felt.
“It’s crazy in there!” Emma said, motioning towards the house. She could still hear the music and the voices of the people inside but the walls were enough of a barrier that the noise was just a distant roar.
“Yeah.” Jason agreed, looking back over his shoulder at the house. “Morgan loves the crowds and the noise but I don’t really like it. There’s too much going on, it’s overwhelming.”
Emma propped her elbows on the railing next to him and they were silent, staring out and the lake. As she stared out at the magical scene with this strange boy next to her she thought of the fairies and the strange bracelet. Maybe if those existed there were other magical things in this world. Like maybe the lake was a portal to someplace far far away and if she just jumped into it she could just disappear to somewhere else. Maybe someplace where her parents hadn’t died and she didn’t see strange things. Where she could date guys like Jason and have a group of girl friends that she could hang out at parties with. It was a nice dream.
Inside the house Mark slouched against the wall, arms crossed and a scowl on his face. He hated this party. A girl sprinted in front of Mark squealing in laughter. Chasing after her a skater guy with shaggy hair and a baseball hat pulled low over his face vaulted over the couch next to Mark. He missed his landing though and stumbled, his shoulder ramming into Mark’s side. Mark growled and shoved the gu
y off of him as the girl laughed and taunted the boy before running off again.
“Sorry, dude!” The skater boy yelled, not even bothering to look at Mark as he chased after the girl again.
Mark grunted in annoyance. The idea of taking Emma to a party to distract her from all the crazy things that had been happening lately had sounded so good yesterday when she had told him about it. Now it seemed like a stupid idea. A very stupid idea. Mark snarled at another guy who backed up into him, startling the guy and the girl he was with. They both quickly walked away.
Mark straightened up from the wall. He was ready to leave, and if that meant grabbing Emma and throwing her over his shoulder he would. Mark looked around, trying to find Emma in the crowd but he couldn’t see her anywhere.
Mark frowned, battling the urge to shove everyone out of his way until he found her. He didn’t like her being out of his sight in a place like this. Finally he spotted Amy standing in the kitchen talking to some guy. Amy would know where Emma was. Mark pushed away from the wall and strode through the crowd.
“Whoa, careful there.” Amy said with a laugh when someone bumped the football player, Vince, and he stumbled into her, pinning her against the kitchen counter. She put her hands on his chest to gently push him away but he didn’t move back, instead he shifted even closer towards her, his hands moving to her hips.
“Maybe I like it here.” Vince said with a leer, flexing his fingers and leaning into her.
Amy pushed against his chest harder but he only pulled her tighter against him. “Vince, stop.” She snapped. “Get off me.” Amy pushed at his hands, trying to get him to let go but Vince only laughed.
“Oh come on, don’t play hard to get when we both know you want me.” He said, leaning in to kiss her.
Amy pushed against his chest again as hard as she could, turning her face away. “I said no! Get off!” She struggled to get away but he wouldn’t let her go.
“Hey!” Mark yelled, brushing past Loraine to grab Vince’s shoulder. “She said no. Get off her.”
Vince pushed Mark away with one arm, not even bothering to turn away from Amy. “Go away, this has nothing to do with you.”
Mark grabbed Vince by the shoulder again. “I told you to let her go.” He growled.
Vince spun around, slamming his right fist into Mark’s jaw in a vicious right hook. A loud crack split the air and Mark tumbled to the floor, right at Loraine’s feet. Vince cursed, cradling his right hand against his chest. The cracking sound had been his hand.
Around them everyone turned to stare and dead silence fell in the room. For a moment everyone was shocked silent, then yells of a fight began to race through the house. Within seconds a circle had formed around Mark and Vince as everyone packed closer to see what would happen. They were all trying to see what poor guy had gotten into a fight with Vince. Mark propped himself up on his elbows and Loraine looked down at him with a smirk.
“Are you really going to let him hit you like that?” She asked, her voice so soft only Mark could hear. “You and I both know you could take him with one hand tied behind your back. Why don’t you show everyone what you can do for once?”
Mark scowled at Loraine and pushed himself to his feet. “Shut up.” He hissed, turning his back on her. The crowd cheered when Mark stood up, and bets started being shouted out on how badly Vince would beat Mark. Mark ignored them though, his entire focus centered on Vince where he stood in the kitchen still cradling his right hand.
“Yeah, you’re a real man.” Mark mocked him, staring at Vince with contempt. “Forcing yourself on a girl, using surprise to land a punch on some nerd. You must be feeling so manly right now.”
“Shut up!” Vince yelled at him, grabbing Mark by the collar of his shirt.
“Or what? You’re going to hit me again?” Mark asked.
Vince hesitated for a moment but the yelling of the crowd hardened. “Yeah, that sounds like a great idea.” He said as he drew his arm back to punch Mark again.
Out on the deck Jason shifted to face Emma. She could feel his gaze on her face as she looked out at the lake and nervous butterflies twisted in her stomach. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and raised an eyebrow at him.
“You’re missing the view.” She murmured.
“I don’t think I am.” He replied. A light breeze blew a strand of hair across Emma’s face and Jason reached a hand out to tuck the strand behind her ear. Emma slowly turned to face him. He was leaning towards her, bright blue eyes fixed on hers with one arm leaning against the railing.
The moment stretched, heightening as they stared into each others eyes. Then a laugh burst out of Emma and she covered her mouth with a hand, the corners of her eyes crinkling as she looked at him.
“I’m sorry.” She gasped, trying not to laugh again. “That was sweet, really.”
Jason gave her a crooked smile and shook his head slightly.
“There’s something about you. You’re different from other girls.” He murmured.
Emma froze. Flashes of all the things she had thought she had seen and all the things that made her crazy flashed through her head. He couldn’t possibly know about all those things, and yet she had the irrational fear that he could look inside her head and hear what she was thinking right now.
“Different?” Her voice broke slightly on the word. Emma coughed to cover it up and stood up so she wasn’t leaning on the railing anymore. “How so?”
Jason’s brow furrowed as he looked at her and he slowly stood up too. He opened his mouth to say something when yells about a fight floated out onto the porch. Emma’s head whipped around. She craned her neck to look inside the house, suddenly worried. She had a bad feeling one of her friends was involved. Emma hurried towards the door but Jason halted her with a hand on her arm.
“Where are you going?” He asked, holding her back. “You shouldn’t go in there, you could get hurt.”
Emma shook off his restraining hand. “I have to find Mark and Amy.”
She ran into the house, pushing through the crowd. Bodies were packed tight, everyone staring over at the kitchen. Emma squeezed her way through the crowd, sensing Jason right behind her. She kept looking for Mark but she didn’t see him anywhere. She was getting closer to the kitchen where the fight was happening.
She heard people yelling out encouragement to Vince to punch somebody. Emma paused, turning her back to the kitchen so she could get a better look at the faces in the crowd. She didn’t much care about the fight, finding Mark was her main concern. Jason pushed through the crowd to stand next to her, a little disheveled from his struggle to get through.
“You see him?” Emma yelled.
Jason shook his head, opening his mouth to reply but Emma had already moved on. She was just about to go look for Mark in another room when over the noise of the crowd she heard Amy scream, “Mark!” Emma whipped her head around, looking to where the scream had come from. Amy’s voice had come from the kitchen.
“Oh no.” Emma groaned. She made a beeline towards the kitchen, shoving her way through the crowd when it got too thick. Finally she burst through the crush of bodies just in time to see Vince punch Mark in the face. Mark stumbled backwards, trying to dodge the blow but it didn’t work. The punch skimmed his jaw just enough to send him sprawling on the floor. Emma jumped forward to help him but Jason caught her mid-air, wrapping an arm around her waist and swinging her around to place her behind him. Momentarily disoriented, Emma looked up into Jason’s determined eyes.
“Stay!” He ordered, glaring at her.
Emma gaped at him, too shocked to respond. Satisfied she would stay Jason turned and ran into the kitchen. Emma saw Vince land a kick to Mark’s ribs before Jason grabbed him and pushed him away.
“Vince, stop! What the hell are you doing?” Jason yelled at him, putting himself in between Mark and Vince. He kept both of his hands on Vince’s chest, pushing him back as the bigger
boy tried to charge forward.
“Get off me!” Vince snapped, practically frothing at the mouth in anger. He tried to push Jason to the side and dodge around him but Jason stayed directly in front of Vince no matter what he did. With a loud roar Vince took a wild swing at Jason. Jason easily ducked it, coming back up with an upper cut to Vince’s stomach that made Vince double over, gasping for breath.
Amy and Emma exchanged wide-eyed looks from across the kitchen. Remembering Mark at the same time they rushed over to him, bending down to help him to his feet.
“Mark! Are you okay?” Emma asked, kneeling down next to him on the hard kitchen floor. Mark nodded, lips pressed in a thin line as Emma pulled his arm around her shoulders so she could help him up.
Mark groaned as he stood and held his ribs where Vince had kicked him. “Yeah, I think I’m fine.” His voice was terse when he replied. Emma exchanged a worried look with Amy who was supporting him on his other side.
“Emma, take him outside.” Jason called over his shoulder, keeping himself between Vince and Mark. Vince straightened up, sucking in a deep breath of air. His face was bright red and he had a wild look in his eyes as his gaze fixated on Jason. “I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
Emma and Amy each ducked under one of Mark’s arms and led him through the crowd and out the front door. The front yard of the lodge was a landscape artists dream. Down the front steps of the house a path of light grey pebbles led across the yard to circle around a beautiful water fountain. A small path split off from the main one to curve to the right where there was a pristine rose garden. Another path split off to the left to lead over to a koi pond underneath a weeping willow tree. At the base of the tree was a small stone bench for anyone who wished to sit as they watched the fish. Emma caught Amy’s eye and gestured at the bench with her head. Amy nodded and the two girls led Mark over to the bench to sit down.
Once they got him settled Emma immediately knelt on the ground next to him so she could get a better look at his face.
“Mark, what happened? How did you get in a fight with Vince?” Emma asked. She gently placed a hand on his jaw, tilting his head to catch the light from the front of the house so she could get a better look at where he had been hit. Mark winced and took a breath but Amy spoke first.
“Mark was trying to help me.” Amy’s voice was tight with restrained fury. Shocked, Emma looked up from her examination of Mark’s jaw to stare at her. Amy’s eyes blazed in anger and her hands were balled into fists, so tight that her knuckles had turned white. “Vince kept grabbing me, he wouldn’t let go. I tried to push him off but he just laughed. Mark ran over to help me and that’s when Vince hit him.”
“Vince grabbed you?” Emma repeated, shocked. Her face clouded in anger. “That son of a…”
“Emma!” Jason called as he jogged over. “Is Mark okay?”
Jason’s white shirt was disheveled, the sleeve on his right arm had unrolled and now brushed his hand. She thought she saw a trace of red on his hand but Jason quickly tucked his hand into his pocket before she could tell for sure. She looked up at his face and noticed that his cheeks were red and his hair was a mess as well.
“I’m fine.” Mark bit out, glaring at Jason.
“I think he’s okay.” Emma answered, slowly standing up so she could talk to him. Amy sat down on the stone bench next to Mark. She began probing at his ribs but Mark brushed her hands away.
“I grabbed an icepack for you.” Jason said, handing the icepack to Mark. “I figured your eye might need it, or maybe your ribs.”
He looked closer at Mark’s face while Mark stared back at him. Jason’s eyes widened slightly in shock.
“Wow, not even a bloody lip.” Jason commented. “That’s surprising, Vince never holds back when he throws a punch.”
Mark shrugged and looked down. “Maybe he didn’t think he needed to hit as hard as usual.”
Jason gave Mark a hard stare which he returned with one of his own. Emma glanced back and forth between them, feeling like she missed something. Amy looked back and forth between them as well, then looked at Emma and shrugged.
“Yeah.” Jason said slowly, dropping Mark’s stare. “Maybe that’s it.”
Turning towards Emma he lightly touched her elbow as Amy began fussing over Mark.
“You should probably take Mark home now.” Jason murmured, his gaze flitting to the house then back to her.
“Okay.” Emma whispered.
Emma blew out a breath as Jason walked away, then turned to look back at Mark.
“Okay tough guy.” She said, holding her hand out to help him up. “Let’s get you home.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Forgeron Legacy Page 10