by Anni Antoni
“Westley’s tutors have come for him. They’ll want to see you too, so you may as well meet them.” Trying not to sound scared. I grabbed her arm and pulled her along behind me. Together we clattered down the stairs to the living room. The voices stopped, and all eyes below followed our progress.
Westley spoke first. “Girls, meet my tutors, Ruth,” he moved his hand toward the tall, stunning woman with long, glossy blue-black hair, “and Jacob,” he indicated an even taller athletic, blonde Adonis standing next to her. “These are the girls I told you about, Lizbet and Claire,” he said, addressing them, as we reached the foot of the stairs.
They looked us over in silence. Claire’s hoarse whisper pierced the air, “Sheesh, I hope we have teachers like them at college,” turning into cough as I elbowed her in the ribs to shut her up. This was serious.
The tutors walked around us for what seemed like an eternity, examining us from every angle. I squirmed like a captured bug under their scrutiny. Finally, Jacob spoke in a deep voice of authority. “Which one of you summoned our student?”
“Summoned? I suppose it was me, but I didn’t mean to…” I said looking up at him. His stern perfection was intimidating. Claire was hanging on to my arm as though her life depended upon it, quiet, an unusual trait for her.
“Hmm. You were unhappy? You made a wish?” Jacob asked. At least he had stopped his slow circling. Ruth stopped circling too, waiting for my answer.
“Y-yes,” I stammered. “But I didn’t know… It’s not his fault, don’t hurt him.”
Ruth smiled at Jacob. “It’s clear what happened, the girl inadvertently summoned him when she made a desperate wish. This student must be exceptionally talented to pick up the signal without any teaching.”
“I’m not convinced,” said Jacob. He frowned. “He’s gone against important rules and may be unsuitable for life on Earth, in which case he should be returned for termination."
I stifled a gasp at the word ‘termination’. What was this, a good cop bad cop routine? I stole a glance at Westley, who winked back at me. What? He was taking this too lightly.
“Come on Jacob, the student deserves another chance, after all he wasn’t taught how to deal with such a situation. He had to manage the strong compulsion on his own when all the tutors had gone for the night,” said Ruth
“Hmmm.” Jacob’s hand stroked his chin. “You’re alone in this house? No parents?” he asked.
I shook my head.
He walked toward the window, where he stood, looking out into the distance, running his hand through his thick blonde hair.
Ruth moved toward me and Claire, still smiling. She put her hand on my head and said, “It’s not important, forget it ever happened.” She stroked Claire’s hair and murmured “Things will go back to normal and you’ll forget we were ever here.”
Abruptly Jacob turned from the window. “No harm was done here, it’s time for us to go,” he said.
So soon? No, no, no, not yet. I wanted to scream at them. “Won’t you stay for coffee?” I said. It sounded lame, I knew it, but I wanted just a few more seconds with Westley. The tutors politely declined my offer, this wasn’t a social call.
Westley moved toward me. He put his arm around my waist and whispered. “Remember what you must do as soon as I’m gone.” His tutors were already at the door. Everything was happening at top speed, like a movie on fast forward.
Ruth and Jacob were already walking down the driveway. Westley gave me one last kiss and ran after them. He caught up where the driveway curved around a tree. He paused, turned and smiled at me, waved and followed his tutors out of sight.
I sagged against the door, empty, beyond tears. Then I remembered my solemn promise and raced upstairs.
“Where are you going?” yelled Claire.
“I’ve got things I must do,” I yelled back. “Keep an eye on Elias for me.” I reached my room and scrabbled for the ballpoint pen and notebook I’d left on the desk, sat down and started to write.
“What’s so urgent? You’re acting all strange.” said Claire from the doorway.
“I must write up a record of what happened with Westley.”
“Who?” said Claire yawning and scratching her head. I looked at her in disbelief.
“You know… Westley. He was here with his tutors. They’ve just left.”
Claire screwed her face up, looking puzzled. “Oh yes. Wasn’t that a while ago?” she said eventually, rubbing her eyes. She yawned again. “The boredom of this place is getting to me. I’m sleepy. I’ll be with Elias when you’re through.”
Fear clawed at my chest. She was already starting to forget… unbelievable. “Keep an eye on Elias. I’ll join you when I’ve finished writing. I won’t be long.” It was urgent. I had to write down everything I’d experienced with Westley before I forgot too. Our future together depended on it.
◆◆◆
This is all totally true. It actually happened to me, even though I’ll forget everything… I had written at the beginning, as he had instructed me, underneath where he had carefully printed the date and signed his name, Westley. I paused, collecting my thoughts, as they meandered dreamily over the past twenty-four hours. Absent-mindedly I put the end of the pen in my mouth, fighting sleep. I yawned, I’d hardly slept since he came.
I pulled myself back to the present. No time for daydreaming, I had to keep writing. I’d already written down what had happened with his tutors while it was fresh in my mind. Now I had to write down the rest, a true record of all that had happened since he came, as I’d promised him I would.
I couldn’t bear to think I’d forget. Was it only last night it had all started? I was writing fast to get it all down, my handwriting degenerating into a barely legible scribble in my haste.
It started Friday night, -- I continued…
◆◆◆
“Bye, Lizbet,” said Mom, giving me a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. Why wouldn’t she call me Elizabeth as I had asked her so many times? She gave my nine-year-old brother Elias a kiss on the cheek and ruffled his hair. He hardly noticed, he was so immersed in his latest game of zombies versus plants or whatever he was playing. He didn’t even take the time to wipe his cheek although he screwed his face up in disgust for an instant.
“Don’t forget to lock the door after we’ve gone,” she said, giving Claire a quick nod and a wave. Mom was in a hurry to get away with her new boyfriend Kirk while we were stuck babysitting Elias in Kirk’s weekend cabin in the middle of nowhere.
It was my mother’s way of keeping us out of trouble while she was away – no parties would happen way out here. “Be good darlings,” she said with an airy wave of her hand, as she walked out. The whole miserable, boring weekend loomed ahead of us.
“Why would we bother locking the door out here?” Clare grumbled under her breath. “It’s not as if anyone’s going to drop by and visit.”
“Zombies or werewolves, perhaps,” I joked. “This place has the right atmosphere. Why don’t I make some hot chocolate now we’re here alone?”
I made my delicious, special recipe hot chocolate for all of us, made more delicious by being served in the bright red mugs I found in the kitchen and the chocolate biscuits I found in the pantry. When we had finished, it was time for Elias to go to bed. He went without a fuss once he had taken photos of us drinking our hot chocolate.
He was a good kid really, a little odd perhaps, but if he had his computer games to play, and something to take photos with, he didn’t seem to mind where he was or what was going on around him.
Once Elias was in bed and I had settled down on the living room couch, Claire reached out and took my hand. “I’m so sorry things didn’t work out the way we expected this weekend Liz.”
“Well, I’m not,” I said, taking my hand back. “Yes, I do want to lose my virginity, but, really… Rodney as a candidate?” I pulled a face as I pictured his round pasty face, goofy, good-natured grin, red hair and geek glasses.
“What’s wrong with Rodney
?” Claire, sounded hurt. “He’s a nice guy, he’s far from ugly, and he’d have treated you well.”
“Well… he’s one of your cast offs for a start. And… and I’d like some romance, you know.”
“Romance is overrated,” she scoffed. “It wears off after a while. At least sex is honest, and good sex is fantastic.” Clare grinned at me, a wicked glint in her eye. Claire had been sexually active since she was 16 after all. Her mother was three times divorced, so she didn’t exactly have a good role model for relationships.
“Oh Claire,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. “You sound so… so cynical. Surely love and romance have a place.” I sighed. “I want to believe I’ll fall in love with a great guy who loves me as much as I love him.”
“What a hopeless romantic you are,” she laughed, leaning back, rolling her eyes. “Love and romance? Pah! Who needs it?”
I looked at her, taking in her long dark hair, her beautiful, flashing brown eyes and vibrant smile. She had a figure to die for, slim and willowy. Not like me. I was fat, colorless and blonde. We were total opposites. She stood out. I faded into the background.
“If you can’t find love, what chance do I have? Who’d love me, a fat, pale blob?” I said in despair. There, it was, out in the open, my worst fear. I’d been putting on a brave face for years, wishing for romance to happen. It seemed as though this place was willing me to speak the brutal truth I’d been hiding. Or perhaps sitting in the semi-dark prompted my confession.
Claire’s face was horrified. “Is that how you see yourself? I realized you were short on confidence, but sheesh…” Claire paused and shook her head. “Look, no-one’s perfect,” she continued, looking into my eyes. “We all have to make the most of what we’ve got. But you, you’re a natural blonde for goodness sake. You’ve got big blue eyes, a pretty face and curves in all the right places. You’re not fat, you’re buxom. Some guys like that.”
“Yeah right,” I said. Claire was only trying to make me feel better. “I haven’t met anyone who like ‘buxom’ girls.” I made the sign for quotation marks in the air.
“Rodney likes buxom,” she added, wiggling her eyebrows and grinning suggestively at me.
Despite myself, I giggled. Claire could lighten any situation. “Enough about Rodney,” I said, giving her a playful shove. “It wasn’t meant to happen. Anyway, I don’t want to be just liked. I want more. I want to be… cherished.”
Claire screwed her face up. “What does that mean? Ah, I understand what the word means, but how does it work? You want a sighing, adoring doormat Liz?” She gave a dramatic sigh and clasped her hands to her heart.
We both burst into laughter at the image she created. Then I sighed. “I don’t know. Do I want too much? Perhaps I want the impossible. But I wish there was a guy who really wanted to get to know me, who was hot for me, and who believed I was special.”
Claire looked at me with one eyebrow raised. “You want good looking too?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said, getting into the mood. “Someone who looks like Westley, the hero in The Princess Bride would do, yeah, I’d like that.” The Princess Bride had been a favorite movie of mine since I was about six years old.
“And rich as well?” Claire continued.
“Preferably, but not essential.”
“And sexy with it? Can’t leave that out,” Claire added.
“The sex would sizzle. We wouldn’t be able to keep our hands off each other.”
“More than just hands, I hope,” giggled Claire. “Tell you what Liz, when you find him, introduce me to his twin brother. I’d like one of those too.”
“I’m wishing for too much, aren’t I?” I said, suddenly serious. Despite my intentions to have fun and make the best of everything, like Claire, a big fat tear rolled down my cheek. I guess it was because of all the emotional ups and downs I’d been through with the whole planned sex-with-Rodney business, which I’d narrowly escaped.
“Hey, it’s your wish Liz. But you won’t find him round here. And don’t keep waiting for him to show up until you’re 90. You need to lighten up and have fun in the meantime.” Claire might have sounded tough, but she leaned over and gave me a big hug.
“Sorry,” I sniffed. “What’s wrong with me?” Taking a deep breath, I attempted to pull myself together. “Let’s forget it. There’s still a few months before we start college and I might find someone I like in that time. And it’s not the end of the world if I start college and I’m still a virgin, is it?”
“Hey, it was you that wanted to lose your virginity before you started college. There’s no pressure from anyone else.”
“But I hate being the odd one out among all our friends. I’m such a loser.” I said, close to tears again.
Without warning, there was a loud crash, a piercing cry of pain and an almighty splash. Claire and I grabbed each other and screamed in unison.
◆◆◆
“Wha-what was that,” her eyes wide as she clutched at me in panic.
“I was hoping you knew,” I replied, holding on to Claire like I was drowning. My heart was thumping wildly, my panic-frozen mind trying to make sense of what we had heard.
My practical side kicked in. I jumped to my feet, dragging Claire with me. “Someone might be hurt. We have to see.”
“What, go outside?” Claire looked petrified. “We could be in danger.”
“We have to Claire, someone might be hurt,” I repeated forcefully as I switched on the lights. “The sounds came from out the back. There are lights out there by the swimming pool. If we switch all the lights on and stay together we’ll be safer.”
Clinging to each other, we made our way to the back of the house, switching on every light we could find. We lit the house up like a crazy carnival. At the back door we found the light switches for the yard. As we switched them on, the backyard flooded with light, as clear as a bright sunny day. I so was thankful Kirk had seen fit to install so many lights.
Claire screamed and pointed, her outstretched arm shaking. “A body! In the pool!” She was on the edge of hysteria.
I saw the body as soon as Claire did. Without thinking I ran and jumped in the pool. The body was face down in the water and I hoped fervently it was still alive. I turned it over, wondering whether to give mouth to mouth resuscitation, when he took a huge gasping breath. A young male, I noticed, wearing, oddly, only a pair of boxer shorts.
By this time Claire was at the side of the pool, waving a broom around, alternately peering into the pool and looking nervously around the yard. “It’s a guy!” She exclaimed. “What’s he doing in the pool? Is he alive? Is he injured? Is he unconscious? Is he breathing?” She was babbling, near hysteria, as she kept looking around.
“He’s alive, breathing, but he’s unconscious. Help me get him inside. He’s hardly got any clothes on, he must be freezing. What are you doing with that broom?” I was babbling too.
Claire put the broom down, peering into every far corner of the yard. “It’s for protection,” she said as I maneuvered the guy to the poolside edge and she reached toward him.
“Protection against what? A sudden flurry of leaves?” My voice came out in a squeak and I had the hysterical desire to laugh. But once I started laughing I knew I wouldn’t stop.
Claire stared at me, her eyes wide. “Someone might’ve pushed him into the pool, tried to murder him! Anyone could be out there! We might be their next target!”
She was right. We had to get him inside as soon as possible, so we’d all be safe. I checked he was still breathing, then pushed with all my strength while Claire bent down, grabbed him round the chest in a bear hug, and pulled hard.
I don’t know how, but we got him out of the pool. Our raised adrenalin must have helped. We put him on the ground for a moment, to catch our breath. Then I grabbed him under the arms. Claire grabbed his feet, and we moved as fast as we could, back inside, and locked the door.
We stood with our backs to the door, breathing hard, while he lay uncon
scious at our feet. What do you do in a situation like that? We looked desperately at each other. I was shivering and suddenly realized how cold I was. He must be cold too.
“Stay here, and watch him,” I ordered Claire. “I’ll go upstairs and get some blankets and a change of clothes for him.”
“Get a change of clothes for yourself as well,” called Claire as I sprinted up the stairs. “Don’t leave me alone for too long. What will I do if he wakes up?” I had no idea, but I hoped he would wake up soon or we’d have a bigger emergency on our hands.
I found my overnight bag, which I still hadn’t unpacked, and threw on a warm pair of pajamas, the ones with pink rabbits. Then I ran into Kirk’s room and rummaged round for something warm for the stranger to wear. Nothing looked like it would fit him. Kirk was short and carried a bit of weight around the middle.
Eventually I found a pair of pajamas that looked warm and had a firm elastic waist. I hoped they would fit. Gathering up the pajamas, and two thick blankets, I raced downstairs again.
“He hasn’t moved,” Claire sounded distraught. She wasn’t good with emergencies. I checked again, still breathing. I couldn’t see any injuries either, what a relief.
“Let’s get these pajamas on him and then carry him over to the couch,” I suggested. Now that things had settled down a little, I took the time to look at him. My breath caught in my throat as the sight of him registered for the first time. “He’s gorgeous,” I sighed, going weak at the knees.
He was long, lean and sculptured, his body broad shouldered and perfect. His face was even more perfect if that was possible. Lightly tanned, flawless skin, long, dark eyelashes, and high cheekbones that looked lovingly molded. His lips were full, soft, sensuous and very kissable. I blushed when I caught myself thinking that. I never permitted my thoughts to wander that way. He looked like he was in his early twenties.
I glanced at Claire. She seemed to have trouble breathing too and had one hand to her throat. “Gorgeous doesn’t begin to describe him,” she panted. “It’s strange though, don’t you think he looks like Westley, you know, the Princess Bride dude?”