Portal - BK 1

by Imogen Rose

  I made it home by five. A couple of bikes were parked outside, Harry’s and Kellan’s. The thought of Kellan made me feel slightly queasy, so I decided to try to sneak up the stairs quietly. However, when I heard laughter and screaming from the family room, I couldn’t help peeking. Ella and Kellan were battling it out on Guitar Hero and Harry was dancing along with Gertrude. I guess Ella had fully recovered. Well, that explained the elaborate GH set up. I had a brother! Mom and Rupert were cuddling on the couch, laughing so hard that tears were streaming down Mom’s face.

  Gertrude was the only one who noticed that I’d come in. She jumped out of Harry’s arms and lunged herself at me. She took me by surprise and I stumbled, lost my bearings and fell flat. As I clumsily scrambled to get myself up I noticed the whole room had gone quiet and all eyes were on me. I felt my face go red as I plonked myself down on the nearest chair, carefully avoiding Kellan’s eyes.

  “Are you ok, Arizona?” Mom asked as she came over to me.

  “Yes, just fine,” I said trying to brush it off. “How are you doing, Ella? Feeling better?” I continued trying to divert attention away from me.

  Ella came over and climbed into my lap for a hug. It felt very awkward, but I put my arms around her.

  “I just beat Kellan at Guitar Hero. What could be better!” she said proudly.

  I could hear Kellan mock crying in the background.

  “I ordered pizza. Hope that’s ok with everyone,” said Rupert.

  “Kellan, are you staying for dinner?” Mom asked.

  “No, I better get home, tons of homework for physics.” He got up and bear hugged Ella, thumped Harry and Rupert on the shoulders and kissed my mom’s cheek. He slowly turned around, smiled and pulled at my sleeve and said, “See you at physics, Shrimp,” and left. I suddenly felt hollow. Inexplicably, I didn’t want him to leave. A lump was rising in my throat.

  Rupert brought the pizzas into the family room and we helped ourselves. I sat down on one of the overstuffed chairs and looked around. Ella and Harry were sitting on the floor stuffing their faces. They were obviously very close. Harry seemed to follow her every move and helped her anytime there was even the slightest sign that she needed anything. She in turn adored him, but seemed to like to try to annoy him. So, nothing new with her, she’s such a brat!

  Ella kept flicking bits of cheese onto Harry’s face, but he just laughed and play tickled her back. I felt a bit envious. All my life I had wished for an older brother who would look out for me and always be on my side. My relationship with Ella was strained or at least that’s how I remember it being in Princeton. We avoided physical contact, never hugged, touched or spent any time together. She knew how to push my buttons and I didn’t take kindly to it. And here she was, flicking cheese without any consequences.

  I turned around and looked at Rupert. I wondered what his story was. I gathered that he could play the guitar. Could he be some kind of musician? I wondered where he rode off to on his bike. He looked at my mother with doting eyes. He rested his head on my mom’s lap and she absentmindedly stroked his hair. I wondered what she was thinking about. Where had they met, how long had they been together and the bigger question… why did we call him Dad? I could feel myself getting worked up again and I wanted to scream. So I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

  Mom seemed to be her usual self, still bossy, but she appeared more relaxed and content. I had caught her looking with irritation at her Blackberry a couple of times this evening. I wondered what that was about. I opened my eyes again and looked over at her. She looked amazing for her age, she must be getting close to 45, but she didn’t look a day over 30, well maybe 35. I saw her trusted Kelly bag sitting on the floor by her seat, some things never changed.

  My eyes were drawn to her hands. What was that around her finger, dirt? I looked more closely, it looked like a tattooed ring. I noticed that Rupert had the same tattoo. They had tattooed wedding bands? That was very alternative of them, almost silly! I held back my giggles by clenching my jaw shut.

  Mom’s phone rang, and she seemed slightly annoyed as she answered. The conversation was one sided with Mom replying in one-syllable words. She looked at Rupert and whispered but I could still hear, “Problem at work, I’m going to have to go in for a while. Come with me?”

  Rupert sat up and said, “Harry, you’re in charge. Get Ella to bed and read her a bedtime story. Harry Potter, it’s by her bed. Arizona, you have homework? We’ll be back in a couple of hours. I’ll be on my cell.”

  They got up and kissed each of us before they took off on Rupert’s Harley.

  As we got up to head upstairs, Harry asked, “Shrimp, do you need help with your physics homework?”

  “I don’t know, I haven’t looked at it yet. I’ll come and find you if I do,” I said, not aware of any physics homework.

  He scooped Ella up in his arms and carried her upstairs. I decided to take Gertrude for a stroll before tackling my homework. I found her leash and we ventured outside. Lazy little Gertrude did not seem to want to head out in the dark so it was a quick stroll. We went back inside and I went upstairs to deal with the homework.

  I stopped outside Ella’s room and watched Harry read to her. I was overcome with jealously – I needed Harry to be my brother. Ella beckoned me to climb into bed with her, so I did. We listened to him read; Ella was asleep before he had finished the chapter. I got up, Harry tucked her in and we left her to dream her dreams.

  “I’ll be in my room if you need any help, Shrimp.”

  I absentmindedly yanked at Harry’s sleeve as a thank you and went to my room. I was almost scared as I opened my homework calendar and looked at the work. It seemed that this was basically a repeat of junior year, so I had done most all of this before, but with really bad grades in all the classes. Physics was a new one though, not a clue why I was taking physics. Had my mother forced me into it? I looked at the homework. Centripetal force problems, no idea what that meant. Despite skimming the textbook, it still made no sense. Was Harry really any good at this? I walked over to his room, the one that had been locked before. He was sitting by his desk, writing some kind of report. He looked up as he heard me come in.

  “Need help, Shrimp?”

  I nodded, “Any idea what centripetal force is?”

  “Sure, let me see what you have to do.” He took my assignment and explained the problems. It was actually very simple and we finished the work in no time.

  I looked around his room. It was hockey themed with some bike stuff thrown in, a typical boy’s room. There were lots of posters (all framed), a row of helmets (some biker and some hockey), signed hockey memorabilia, sticks and pucks. Harry watched me looking at his stuff with amusement.

  “Why did you lock your room when you went away?” I asked curiously.

  “So you wouldn’t come in and meddle with my stuff!” he laughed.

  I was a bit hurt, but I guess that made sense. I knew all about little sisters not being able to keep their hands off personal property. I guess I was his pesky little sister.

  “What were you and Kellan talking about at breakfast?” I asked.

  He looked bemused, “Can’t really remember. I guess I told him about camp and we discussed the tryouts.”

  He sat up and looked at me with a mischievous grin, “What’s going on between you and Kellan? Did you fight about something while I was away? You guys acted strange at breakfast.”

  I shrugged, “Oh nothing…Harry, can we hang out after school tomorrow? I’ve missed you.”

  “Sure, I’ve missed you too, Shrimp. I have a date with Maria at six, so why don’t we hang out right after school?”

  I nodded happily as I got up to leave.

  “Shrimp, are you coming to watch the tryouts on Thursday?”

  “I’ll be there,” I said carefully.

  I kept my face down as I entered physics class, trying to keep a low profile. How should I approach Ariele? She was one of my best friends; I needed to talk to her but was
almost afraid to. I needed her to know me, Arizona Stevens. But how would I explain my current pathetic predicament! I was so preoccupied worrying about her that I almost ran into Kellan. Well perhaps not almost, my face got rather close and personal with his chest as it rebounded off it with a thump. He smirked at me or that’s what it looked like anyway. I guess it could be his version of a smile. If so, he needed to work on it.

  “Shrimps first,” he whispered into my ear as I tried to squeeze pass him through the doorway.

  I suddenly felt intensely irritated. It was one thing for Harry to call me Shrimp, but it annoyed me when Kellan did. I’m not sure why. It seemed less affectionate when he said it, almost teasing. I gathered that he was one of my brother’s (a brother… it sounded so odd. My mind wandered momentarily, but I shook myself back to the present) best friends, however, surely I didn’t have to put up with this? No, I definitely did not! I turned around and snarled at him, baring my teeth.

  “Stop calling me Shrimp!” I glowered at him with my fists clenched at my side, ready to punch him if I needed to. The expression on his face changed immediately to one of shock. I instantly regretted opening my big mouth.

  “Are you ok? I’ve called you Shrimp since we were eight! What’s going on with you? You’re acting very bizarre. There is something different about you. Did something happen?” he looked me over carefully, narrowing his eyes.

  I realized that I had made a big mistake. I was horrified. The hurt in his eyes was unbearable; it made my stomach heave. I tugged at his sleeve nervously.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean it. You know that.”

  Thankfully he nodded and his mouth broke into an infectious smile. I felt a sense of relief wash over me. I walked over to my seat with Maria. She was pinching my elbow and she gave me a clearly disappointed stare. She shrugged her shoulders at Kellan and more or less pushed me down on my chair.

  “O-M-G, what’s up with you?” she hissed clearly irritated.

  “I don’t know,” I whispered back wearily.

  She went around to her desk and sat down. I could feel everyone looking at me. This was clearly out of character. I wondered if Ariele was sitting at the back and if she had noticed my little fit. She’s the only one who wouldn’t give this a second thought. After all, this was quite normal behavior for Princeton Arizona. This is how I always was.

  I wasn’t feeling brave enough to turn around to see if she was there. The thought of meeting Kellan’s gaze was more than I could deal with at the moment. I could hear Justin laugh from behind me and it took all I had not to turn around and wallop him. It was really hard to suppress my natural instincts, but I felt I had to. This was so clearly not how the Arizona they knew would behave. Well, I can’t be perfect all the time! At least, I looked like Arizona Darley today. Ella had helped me get back to normal. I looked pretty and well polished. I would have to work on the attitude.

  I did feel bad for Kellan. He was clearly hurt and disappointed in me. Best to find a way of making it up to him, although I wasn’t sure exactly why I felt I had to. I rummaged around in my bag, pulled out my physics folder and pretended to go through my homework.

  After what seemed like eternity, a very late Dr. Lee entered the classroom and everyone went silent. I was a bit taken aback. I had expected a burly ex-hockey player, but Dr. Lee looked like your everyday science nerd who had never skated in his life. I guessed he had hidden talents, however, I was starting to wonder if this team was any good. I gave myself an imaginary kick. How could I be so judgmental? After all, I, a petite girl, was expecting to be accepted as a serious candidate to play for the varsity team.

  “Miss Darley, I got your note this morning. Please come to my office during lunch,” he said as he adjusted his bow tie.

  Maria shot me a curious look, as did the rest of the class. I put my head down and pretended to concentrate on my work. Thankfully, with Harry’s help last night, I was able to keep up with Dr. Lee as he moved on to equilibrium and torque. I was actually starting to enjoy this class. Physics seemed to be fairly intuitive and I seemed to get the various concepts without too much effort. Memorizing all these equations would be a challenge though. Dr. Lee seemed to command attention and there were no whispers or chatting during class thankfully. We put our homework on an open folder on Dr. Lee’s desk on the way out.

  Kellan brushed past me on the way out the door and said, “Beat you at Guitar Hero later, Shrimp?”

  I could feel his breath on my neck and felt strangely drawn to him. I nodded thankfully and squeezed his arm. He was sweet to make an effort to make me feel better. On the way to the computer lab, I asked Maria if she had seen the new girl in class.

  “I didn’t notice, Arizona. You had my attention, the whole class’s attention!”

  I nodded embarrassed, “Yes, I’m sorry about that. I’ll have to apologize to Kellan, again.”

  “What on earth’s up with you two? Did you tell him about the hockey? Is he annoyed?”

  “I didn’t. Why would he be annoyed anyway?”

  She shrugged, “I guess he wouldn’t. I just don’t get it. There’s definitely something up with you two.”

  I shook my head in disagreement but she rolled her eyes.

  "Why does Dr. Lee want to see you?” she asked moving on.

  “Oh, I’m just going to ask him about trying out, forms and all that stuff.”

  “You could just get all that from Harry. Have you told him yet?” she asked.

  “No, but I will, soon. This evening maybe.”

  “Make sure you do. It won’t be pleasant if he finds out from anyone else. You can see that, can’t you?” she asked pointedly, obviously having lost all confidence in my judgment. I nodded and reassured her that I would take care of it.

  I wandered over to Dr. Lee’s office after computer lab and knocked at the door.

  “Come in,” sounded his surprisingly firm voice.

  I went in and waited for him to ask me to sit. Dr. Lee is a very serious looking man. I hadn’t seen him smile yet. He is about five foot ten inches tall and slender. He appeared very formal in his gray slacks, navy blazer and red bow tie. He was a bit intimidating really, which was kind of weird as I was sure I could flatten him if I had to.

  He waived me to a chair and asked, “Are you having any problems in physics, Arizona?”

  I took a deep breath, “No, I am actually here to talk to you about ice hockey. You’re the coach?”

  “I’m the director, not the coach. That would be Coach Stanislaw. Is there anything I can help you with?”

  So, he was not the coach. That made sense. Maybe it would be better to make up a pretend physics issue to discuss with him and wait with the hockey stuff until I found Coach Stanislaw.

  He continued, “Your brother is an amazing hockey player and we see a bright future for him in college hockey. I wasn’t aware that you had an interest in ice hockey, Arizona. My daughter plays hockey, for Princeton University now.”

  I was surprised to hear that he had a hockey-playing daughter.

  “Did she go to school here?” I asked with newfound respect for Dr. Lee.

  “She did,” he replied with pride.

  This was looking a bit more promising so I decided to throw myself into it.

  “I was hoping to tryout for the varsity team. I guess I just need some information about the times and any forms I have to fill out. Do I need to fill out a medical form?”

  He looked surprised, “Arizona, we don’t have a girl’s team. I wish we did. Tanya, my daughter, played for a local triple A team, The Mountain Cats. Have you heard of them?”

  I shook my head as he continued.

  “I know the coach fairly well and my wife was their manager for a few years. I’ll be happy to contact them for you,” he offered.

  That did sound mildly interesting, and perhaps I would look into that at some point. It would be fun playing with girls. However, at the moment the priority was getting onto the varsity team.

  “I
understand that if there is no girl’s team available at the school, then the school is obliged to let me try out for whatever team is available. All boys or not,” I informed him firmly.

  “That’s true, Arizona,” he agreed. “It will be hard though. We have a strong team. The boys are close and will not easily accept you. I was not even aware that you had played before?”

  I ignored his comment, as I wasn’t prepared to delve into my other life as a star hockey girl. It would be too confusing to say the least! I did, however, wonder if I had played hockey with his daughter during summer hockey camps at Princeton University. Anyway, I asked him about the paper work and schedules instead. He went over to a filing cabinet and pulled out some forms and handed them to me.

  “Arizona, I’ll let Coach Stanislaw know to expect you. The tryout times are on the top form.”

  I nodded and thanked him. He kindly added that I was welcome to contact his wife for any support and advice as she had also played ice hockey.

  “Arizona, best of luck tomorrow. I’ll be rooting for you.”

  I gave him a thankful smile and left to find the girls. I was feeling much more hopeful and quite joyful by the time I got to the cafeteria. The cheer table beckoned to me and I went over and sat down.

  Maria slid over a plate with fruit and asked, “Well, how did it go?”

  “Better than I thought it would. I’ll fill you in later, but please don’t mention anything to Harry yet. I’ll try to break it to him this evening.”

  “The new girl from physics came over earlier and asked me to hand you this note,” Maria said as she slid a piece of paper over to me. It was brief.

  May I copy your physics notes?

  I’ll come find you later.

  Thanks, Ariele

  I guess it was time to deal with Ariele, after all she was my BFF from Princeton. I looked around and spotted her alone at one of the corner tables. Walking over to her, I wondered if she recognized me from Princeton or if she only knew me as Barbie Arizona, like Simla and Justin seemed to.