Shawn picked up a bolt of shiny orange fabric. “I can’t believe it’s already Halloween. You’d never know it by looking outside. What is it…sixty-five degrees?”
“Sounds about right,” I mumbled.
Irelynn, who had been unpacking the bags, turned to me quizzically. “Hey Cami, you didn’t open it without me did you?”
I looked at the box of decorations and then back at her, confused.
She rolled her eyes. “Not that, dummy. The package from your parents?”
The package. I completely forgot about it. “No. I didn’t. I don’t think it came this month.”
She frowned. “Hmm. That’s weird.”
“It is. It’s probably at home somewhere. I just forgot where I put it. I’ll look for it later,” I lied. It wasn’t there. No matter how distracted I’d become recently, there was no way that would be pushed aside.
Irelynn cleared her throat and nodded toward the window. Will had just walked by. “Go on. Before your grandmother knows you’re both here at the same time.”
“Thanks!” I turned and walked out, leaving Irelynn to entertain Shawn.
“Don’t touch that!” I heard her snap as I left the room.
My body instantly relaxed when I found him leaning over the sawhorse.
“Something’s wrong,” I said.
He didn’t hear me walking toward him. He placed a can of soda on the tool chest beside him and then turned his attention to the tabletop he was carving for the festival. For a moment, I stood watching him. He scrutinized every detail like a master sculptor. Rodin, I imagined. I smiled to myself when he rested his chin on his hand deciding his next move. The Thinker. Not only was he the artist, Will had become the subject as well.
“It’s beautiful.” I ran my fingers over the partially carved corner. It was quickly becoming the most beautiful work of art I had ever seen, not that I was biased.
He remained focused on the table.
I waved my hand in the air. “Will.”
He sighed, dropping his chisel on the small workbench beside him and shoved his hand in his pockets. “What?”
“I’m sorry,” I said, surprised by his irritation.
Again he said nothing, simply raising his annoyed eyebrows. Note to self; don’t interrupt him while he’s working.
“Did you hear me?”
“I heard you,” he snapped.
“I’m sorry if I’m bothering you Will, I just need your opinion.”
“On what?”
Now I wasn’t sure if I should tell him or run away. It seemed too silly to be interrupting him for something so transparent that I didn’t even know what I needed his help with.
“Well, I think something’s wrong; with my parents anyway. I haven’t heard from them. They are a week past due.”
His weight shifted. “What do you mean, past due?”
“Every month they send me a package of things. Mostly little trinkets or whatever. But this month’s hasn’t come yet.”
He snorted at my explanation.
It did sound pretty pathetic, my whining that I didn’t get a gift from them. But it wasn’t that. “And I was too busy to notice that last month’s didn’t come either. I hadn’t thought about it until Irelynn reminded me,” I added, hoping that my concern for their well-being outweighed the spoiled brat lurking inside.
“Oh,” he said. His face changed from disbelief to contemplation. Good.
“What do you think should I do?”
He thought for a moment. “Are you sure there wasn’t one last month?”
“Yes.”
He chewed on his lip. “And where are they again?”
“Costa Rica. They’re supposed to meet up with us in Mexico next month. It’s just not like them to forget.”
Grabbing the chisel, he swiveled back toward the table. “I dunno Cami, it is Costa Rica. Maybe the package got lost or returned. Who knows? I’m sure you would have heard something if all wasn’t well. I wouldn’t worry about it.”
This time I couldn’t allow his indifference to change my gut feeling.
“But Will, I don’t think it’s that. They never miss a month.”
“Don’t you have a phone number where you can reach them?”
Again, my paranoia gave me an excuse. “I do, but it is a worst case scenario type thing. I don’t want to call if I’m not absolutely sure something is wrong.”
His head shook as he studied the table. “That’s ridiculous. If you feel something’s wrong, call. Or, what about your ‘watchers’ or whatever? Can’t they see if something is wrong?”
Damn. Once again, he had a response for everything. Why did I have to tell him that part of the story? He made it sound as if I could just send up the bat signal if I needed them. I’d go with his first answer. If I did call, I would know in an instant that everything was fine. I might be okay with that if it had not been drilled into my head since I was five to never call.
“Never mind,” I said.
He stood up quickly, again startling me. “So what is it you want me to do?”
“Um. Nothing I just…” want you to stop being weird and tell me my parents are okay. “Nothing.”
“I’m sorry, Cami.” He went back to work. “I just have to get this thing done. Apparently nobody can eat Saturday unless the table’s done. Your grandmother has decided the renovation has to be all but finished by then as well.”
“Oh, no. Will, I’m sorry. I knew she’d figure something out and apparently working you like a dog was her best bet. She knows you are too polite to say no.”
He grunted and put the chisel to the table again.
“Well, I guess I’d better get back inside.” And repress my gut feeling, thank you very much.
I walked back inside the Inn to find Irelynn and Shawn still arguing over the decorations. Kelsey, Anna and several more students had arrived to join in on the fun.
“Actually, I really think we should stay away from too much orange this year. I’ll be attending and it really doesn’t flatter my dress or skin tone,” Kelsey boasted.
Anna saw me and smiled warmly. “Hey Cami, how’s the ankle?”
“Uh, it’s fine.” I replied, with a small smile to cover my confusion. How could she have known about my ankle?
Meanwhile in the background Shawn was arguing with Kelsey saying, “Duh orange. It’s Halloween, hello!”
“I overheard those two talking about it.” Anna explained, her eyes diverting to Shawn and Irelynn and then back to me again.
“Oh.”
Kelsey shoved by Anna and looked out the window to where I’d just been talking to Will. “I saw him at the gas station earlier, he looked upset. Is there was trouble in paradise, Cami?” She continued watch him through the window. "Do you need some advice on how to talk to men? I know that's something you...struggle with.” She twisted around, showing her fake pout.
"Kelsey!" Anna slapped her shoulder.
Irelynn saw me flinch and was pulling me as quickly as she could into the far corner of the room before I could pounce. She grabbed a box of decorations and shoved it down on the table in front of us. “Seriously. What is going on? I tried to play your looniness off as you having your first big love or whatever, but you are acting really weird.” She looked at my ankle.
I made sure no one was close before I told her. “He knows.”
Her huge emerald eyes overtook her glasses. “You told him?”
“No, Ire, he knew.”
She grimaced. “Knew? How could he know?”
“I don’t know. I spent the morning dodging his question assault.”
I rushed to tell her about sneaking out the night before and meeting Will at the lake, the near attack in the park and Dorothy catching us early this morning sneaking in. I didn’t want prying ears to hear anything.
“They looked like ghosts? Like from Scooby-Doo?”
“No, I’m serious. They were really creepy.”
“So, that’s what the ladies we
re discussing. It makes sense now. And after all that, now he’s being rude. Typical man. You tell him your deepest secrets and then he turns on you. What a pig.”
Shawn’s shocked voice interrupted her rant. “You told him? Too soon dude, too soon.” He squeezed the juice box he was holding, spraying the juice from the straw into his mouth like a breath spray.
“I didn’t tell him, Shawn. He knew something was up,” I whispered.
“So he asked her, badgered her really.” Irelynn finished my thought.
He drank until the gurgle noise inside the box was quieted by Irelynn’s hand crushing the box. The faceoff between the two didn’t last long enough to erupt into a full on brat fight. He grabbed the straw triumphantly and shoved it into his mouth. He turned back to me, chewing on it.
“How’d he know? I mean it’s not like you’ve got your freak flag flying proudly.”
When I was able to sort through Shawn’s ramblings, sometimes he had valid points. How did Will know something was off? I searched my memory for the excerpt of conversation where he actually answered any of my questions.
“I don’t think he ever said.”
Shawn continued to chew. “That’s weird.”
“Yeah.”
Who clued him in on our secret? He said his uncle had no idea, and Shawn was right; no one hung signs around here that said we were anything but normal.
A low commotion coming from the window where Kelsey was standing caught Shawn’s attention.
“What has Anna’s knickers in a twist?”
Simultaneously, our heads turned to her.
She had her hands firmly on her hips, her normally ghost white face was ablaze, jaw clenched. Kelsey was running her hand over a bundle of ribbon, smirking back at her. It was normal to see these two in a fight and if Shawn's inner detective was not in overdrive, I probably wouldn't have noticed. But this was something more than a "You're wearing my shoes!" spat.
"Trouble in paradise," I mumbled.
Irelynn’s right eyebrow rose. "Who knows? When it comes to Kelsey, anything's possible."
"Ten bucks says she stuffs that pumpkin in her face." Shawn whispered.
"I'll take that bet," Irelynn happily agreed and they shared a quick handshake.
Anna's timid voice broke into a shriek across the dining room. "You can't do that, Kelsey!"
That was enough to catch everyone else in the room. People stopped what they were doing and stared in their direction, causing Anna to instantly suck in her momentary confidence and look down at the floor. We couldn't turn our heads back fast enough; we'd been caught. Kelsey's gaze settled on me after darting around the room. Crap. There had been no time to look away. The corner of her pouty lip curled up and she turned back to Anna, whispering. Anna's hands left her hips and the two went back to sorting their box. The confrontation was over, but the awkward silence between them suggested the disagreement was not over.
Shawn was the first to break gaze. "Holy daytime T.V."
Irelynn and I laughed.
Not that I was interested in the goings on of the crabbiest girl in school, but what caused her sidekick to cause a scene was enough to pique my curiosity. "What do think that was about?"
Irelynn crumpled an empty bag and stuffed it into the garbage. "I dunno. She probably finally grew a pair and told Kelsey to get lost."
"It's possible," I mumbled, going back to mindlessly sorting – the worst part of decorating. Why couldn't I just throw some of these things here and there and call it good? Shawn and Irelynn sorted with me, bickering the entire time, as usual. This time he was whining because she refused to use her connections to get him a deejay gig at the ball. He wanted to “show this town something it's never seen” to which she replied, “Forcing those old farts to flail around like a fish out of water to your techno funk rock doesn't sound too appealing to me. Anyway, it's traditional to have the string quartet.”
He knew she would say that, so he was already prepared to fire a rebuttal, but I didn’t hear what he said. The scraping of chairs caught my attention. The table that Kelsey and Anna had occupied was now empty and they were marching toward us.
Now four sets of eyes were focused on me. I felt my face heat up instantly as being the center of attention was not on the top of my fun list.
"As I said earlier, I'm eighteen so I get to go to the ball and leave all you youngsters behind, which means I'll need a date. And since the only boys old enough to go are complete dweebs, I was thinking you may know someone I could go with.” She paused, looked at Shawn and smiled for an obvious dramatic effect. She twisted a strand of hair around her finger and half smiled.
I almost choked at the idea of her and Shawn attending the ball together – his punk rock style side by side by her Miss Teen America style. But then I remembered that Shawn is only seventeen. And after years of note taking on Kelsey, I clenched my jaw at what was coming next. She shifted her weight to her other hip and cocked her head to the side.
"I'm thinking I'm going to go ask Will. You won't mind Cami, right? I mean, it’s not like you two are official or anything. But out of respect for our friendship, I thought I'd tell you first." The sugary sweetness of her tone made me want to vomit. Her sincerity was as real as the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, and if ever I believed in the nature of my ancestry coursing through my veins, it was definitely now. I felt myself recoiling; my intrinsic need to bite put her in my crosshairs. She would be my first bite and I really couldn't see that anyone would bat an eye. It was a little too easy for me to picture her horrified face as I leaped over the table and pushed her to the floor. I wondered if Anna would come to her defense or stand out of the way in silent appreciation. Why was she a friend to that beast?
I glowered into her challenging eyes before reverting to my usual demeanor around people I didn't like. Indifferent. "Do whatever you want Kelsey. I don't own him.” Which, in my translation meant, I do not consider us friends Kelsey. Feigning a friendship with me after all these years is a load of crap. You just came over here to rub it in my face. You don't want my permission. So do whatever you want. Jump off a bridge, I don't care. I'm not the one who's going to look like an ass.
She studied me for a moment, trying to bore holes into my face. It was not the reaction she wanted and I knew she could sense what I was thinking. I could feel the nervous eyes shifting back and forth, waiting for the next move. She took my response in stride, however.
“Go ahead and try to act like you don’t care. Everyone knows how totally twisted you are over him and you aren't even together. Get over yourself!” She spun on her heels and marched toward the door to find Will.
Anna looked at me with apologetic eyes.
“Whatever Anna, go catch your queen.” I growled.
“She's cut throat,” Shawn said after the two were gone.
I grabbed a handful of orange ribbon and shrugged. In addition to feeling extremely violent, I also felt very guilty because I should not have snapped at Anna. It wasn't her fault. But it didn't help that she was friends with someone I truly could not stand. I wasn’t worried about Kelsey, though. I knew Will, and no matter how much she flirted or wiggled in front of him, he wouldn't take the bait. When it came down to it, she was just...dumb.
Irelynn continued sorting the decorations onto the table and soon it was covered in heaps of orange fabrics, ribbons, ornate jack-o-lanterns and anything else Halloween we could find. She looked at the piles, satisfied. “Looks like orange is the theme this year. Too bad for Kelsey and her skin tone; she'll have to get over it.”
“You really think she's going to go ask him?” Shawn wandered over to the window and peeked out. “That's a yes.”
Irelynn dropped a thick white candle on the table and went to the window. "No way!" She shoved Shawn out of the way. Her hands planted firmly on her hips, she shook her golden mane. “She is so scandalous. I guess the mystery of who tipped him off is solved.”
Of course, it made perfect sense. Why hadn’t I t
hought of it? This girl had given me hell since before I can remember about coming from a family of freaks. My family and all that are like us are “vile abominations” or abdominations as she said when we were twelve. That was the first and last time I’d ever touched another person with the intent to hurt. Luckily for her, Bob Turner, the junior high wrestling coach was nearby and heard her scream when I scrambled up her back and knocked her to the ground. She made it clear to the entire school, and town for that matter, that not only had I attacked but I bit her as well. I was handed a week’s suspension and an offer to be the only girl on the wrestling team, which I declined.
I tried to bury the thought that she would do something so cold. But I couldn’t deny it. My grandmother’s long lectures about praying for those who are less understanding was just not helping right now.
“Here comes Towny.” Irelynn turned and waved me over. I hurried to the window, Shawn again getting shoved out of the way.
He weaseled his way between us and we all watched. John marched toward Will with intent, his normally relaxed face taut. Will graciously removed himself from Kelsey's snare to meet John halfway. Will's uncertain face focused in on John's every word.
"Mr. Townsend looks puh-issed!" Shawn sang.
When John was done speaking, Will looked around the grounds. He said something to John and then walked back to where Kelsey was standing. John turned and stalked off toward the front of the Inn. Kelsey smiled and began chatting again when Will returned. He seemed only partially engaged in the conversation, though. When she finished talking, it took him a moment to realize she was not speaking anymore and then he simply nodded. Whatever he just agreed to made her light up and made my heart sink. She turned to find us spying through the window, flashed a wicked grin and turned back as Will rushed to gather his tools. The two followed the path John had taken moments earlier toward the front of the Inn. We raced to the other side of the dining room to the windows that overlooked the street where his truck was parked. Will appeared, sans Kelsey, threw his tools into the back of the truck and quickly jumped in. The truck roared to life. He sped off, leaving behind a cloud of grey smoke. We watched as the tail of Will's truck disappeared.
The Valley Page 11