Falling In Between

by Devon Ashley

  “This,” he mocked, “you chose to read for fun?”

  “Yep. And now I don’t have to squeeze it in before finals, like some other people around here.”

  “See,” Sophie said, “that’s why Jenna gets the scholarships. She’s smart enough to think ahead.”

  “You got a scholarship to college already?” Jhett asked, seemingly impressed. “Which one?”

  My eyes widened as I looked up. Sophie froze and I felt Robert tense up behind me.

  “What?” he asked, confused by all our looks of surprise.

  Sophie blurted, “I’m sorry. It slipped.”

  “It’s okay.” It really was. I wasn’t too worried about Jhett finding out. “Jhett, I’m here on scholarship.”

  “No shit?” His lips pinched and his head seemed to nod absentmindedly.

  Yeah, I knew that look. “It’s okay. Just go ahead and say it.”

  “It’s just, you don’t look like a scholarship kid. I mean…you blend.”

  “Yeah, well…ssshhh,” I joked.

  “Well, you had to be smart to get one for here. Have you gotten one for college yet?”

  “That’s actually what I’m working on right now,” I explained, returning to the website I had pulled up on Robert’s laptop. “But most of these want me to be involved in extracurricular activities or in the community in some way.”

  “Just make it up,” Sophie replied. “They’re not really gonna check.”

  “I’d rather not lie if I don’t have to.”

  “Why don’t you volunteer somewhere?” Robert asked. “Then you can choose when and where you go.”

  “The hospital!” Sophie exclaimed.

  “What?”

  “Yeah, I got friendly with the nurses when I was there.” She threw Robert a contemptuous glare. “Someone wouldn’t get the hell out of ICU.”

  Robert chuckled. “I’m still not going to apologize for that.”

  “Anyways,” she continued, “they mentioned they’re always short-handed. I’m sure they’ve got plenty of stuff you could do to help out.”

  “You don’t have a car, do you?” Jhett asked.

  I shook my head. “I can just take the bus.”

  “No,” Robert said softly in my ear. “I can take you. You shouldn’t have to shell out money for public transportation just to earn money for school.”

  I leaned my head back over his shoulder and smiled. “We’ll see.”

  When Sophie and I retreated to our bedroom a little later, she hopped in the shower and I decided to start working on my calculus. I had tried to start it down in the commons but my brain just couldn’t seem to focus on it. I opened my book bag and groaned when I didn’t see my textbook.

  “Crap!”

  I went back down to the commons thinking I left it behind, but it wasn’t there. And no one new had come along to sit in the area. Thinking Robert may have grabbed it by mistake, I cautiously made my way up to his room. I had just knocked on his door when the door across the hall and one over opened. I gasped automatically. The girl that stepped into the hall widened her eyes as far as mine. I recognized her as that Anne girl in the volleyball uniform the morning I had detention – for being caught in the male halls!

  Robert’s door opened but my eyes were still fixed with

  Anne’s, so it took me a few seconds to face him. Curious, he peeked out into the hall.

  “Come on,” he said softly and pulled me in. I took one last glance at Anne but she was already headed in the opposite direction.

  Jhett wrinkled his forehead with surprise when he saw it was me. “Do I need to beat it?”

  “Doesn’t Sophie do that for you?” I threw my hands to my mouth as soon as I said it. Normally, I said that kind of thing to Sophie, not Jhett, and it just came out before I thought about it.

  He and Robert chuckled, but I wasn’t sure if they were amused by what I said or cause I was completely turning red at the moment.

  I tried to be sincere but the giggles just couldn’t be contained. “I am so sorry!”

  Jhett got up, and as he passed me on the way out, mischievously replied, “And to think you kiss Robert with that dirty mouth, you little beater you.”

  Once he was gone, Robert leaned on the wall beside me, waiting for me to disengage my hands. “I’m guessing you didn’t come here to discuss beating with us, so what’s up?”

  I fought to remove my hands, so the first few words were muffled. “Oh-my-God, I can’t believe I just said that to him.”

  “Why not? It’s not like it’s not true.” He nudged himself a little closer and his hand reached out to finger mine. “Although, it was a little hypocritical of you since you’ve been quite the busy beater yourself.”

  He leaned in and gave me a long, adoring kiss that calmed my nerves.

  “So, what brought you up here if you truly didn’t have beating on your mind?”

  “Hush up,” I replied jokingly and pushed him off me. “Did you grab my calculus book downstairs? I can’t find it.”

  He grabbed his bag and sure enough, he had a spare inside. “This is where I’d normally say I’m sorry for taking your book, but after the past five minutes, I’m actually really glad I snatched it.”

  “Ha ha. Now if you don’t mind, I’m gonna go die of humiliation.”

  I was relieved to see that Jhett hadn’t made his way to our room once he bailed. But the grin on Sophie’s face when I walked into the room told me she had already been informed via cell phone. Freakin’ technology.

  “Not one word,” I playfully threatened.

  “That’s alright. Apparently I have other outlets for the use of my mouth.”

  “I’m sorry! It just came out.”

  I figured that was the perfect time to take a shower. Maybe if I stayed in there for an hour I could wash away the humiliation.

  Nope. Still there.

  I changed into a fresh satin camisole and matching shorts to sleep in and stepped out of the bathroom, towel-drying my hair. Sophie was sitting on her bed with her laptop open in front of her, but she was quickly texting away on her cell phone.

  “Hey,” she said, “some teacher just checked all the rooms on Jhett and Robert’s floor.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, they’re making a random sweep to make sure none of the rooms have become co-ed.”

  My mouth fell open. “Are they doing that here?”

  “No one’s come around yet. I texted a few girls on different floors and no one’s been checked yet. But I guarantee you everyone in this school knows by now. Ms. Newell didn’t go so far as to check under our beds so I’d be willing to bet there are some misplaced students out there hiding under them at this moment.”

  “Where’d Jhett go after he left his room?”

  “Cafeteria. He knew you wouldn’t stay so he went back up after a few minutes. Aren’t you glad you got out?”

  Hell yeah. I couldn’t afford to be caught again. Out of the four of us, I was the one that did the least amount of room hopping cause Robert usually came to me. Yet I was the one that had already been caught once and almost got caught again tonight. What the hell?

  I flipped my hair upside down and continued to pinch the water out with the towel.

  “Hey!” Jhett yelled. “I missed that. Is that the beater hater? You know, the one with rug burn on her knees.”

  My body snapped up and my hair flung water on my bookshelves as it flipped back.

  “Are you Skyping?!” I cried at Sophie.

  “Uh…yeah. Sorry.”

  “I had to take a leak. What’d I miss?” he continued.

  I rounded Sophie and leaned in behind her. Jhett’s webcam stream was taking up the entire screen and I could tell he was sitting at his desk.

  “Well there’s our little beater hater.”

  “You know, I think you just like saying the word beater and you’re using me as an excuse to say it.”

  “What?! Do you believe that, Soph?” he asked.

/>   “Yes,” she answered immediately, still texting away on the phone.

  He turned his head in the picture. “Man, can you believe this? They’re ganging up on me.”

  I heard Robert chuckle off screen and mumble something along the lines of ‘good for them’.

  I rose to walk away but stopped short when Jhett added, “Hey, beater hater. One more thing.” I leaned down in view of the camera again. “Your headlights are on.”

  And with that I snapped up and steered away from the laptop. I heard Sophie gasp and then Jhett yell out when something smacked in their room. Sophie sighed and shook her head in annoyance. “Don’t worry about it Robert. I’ll be sure to smack the crap out of him enough for the both of us.”

  “What was that?” I asked, not daring to come within range of her webcam again.

  “I think Robert pelted him with one of those soft balls they have for that hanging basketball toy thingy.”

  “Woman, it’s not a toy thingy. Okay? Three words. Door. Basketball. Hoop.”

  Sophie looked up from her phone and she jerked her head sideways with each word, “What. Ever.” Then she turned to me and said, “It’s a toy.”

  “Ahh! There’s no reasoning with her.”

  A knock came from our door and we both froze.

  “Ladies. Open up,” was called through the door.

  Sophie slammed the laptop shut and I answered the door. Ms. Newell stood there with a clipboard in hand.

  “Ms. Baker. Good to see you’re staying in your room tonight. Now where’s Ms. Zawinski?”

  I opened the door all the way and she stepped in far enough to scan the room. Sophie semi-waved from her bed. “Excellent. You two have a good evening.”

  I locked the door behind her and listened as she knocked on the door across the hall. Sophie and I traded curious looks, then she got back to her texting and I settled into bed with my book.

  “There’s still time to change your mind about the Christmas dance. Sure you don’t wanna go?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t wanna go alone.”

  “You won’t be alone. Jhett and I will keep you company.”

  Yeah, that’d be fun. There’d be no point in their going if all they were gonna do was babysit me at the table all night. Hell, they could do that here.

  “I don’t wanna go without Robert. He’ll be here for prom. We’ll all go then, okay?”

  “Yeah, alright. Can’t believe you’re gonna miss it though.”

  Eh. Fancy dress I couldn’t afford, my legs turning blue slushin’ through the snow, just to get there and not have Robert to warm me back up again? I had no problem skipping this one.

  I had to admit, I loved coming to Sophie’s for Christmas each year. Her family had a large estate on fifty acres in rural Pennsylvania and it was absolutely idyllic. The air smelled like Christmas trees, the grounds were always covered in snow and the wildlife wasn’t afraid to come up to the window in the sunroom, where I loved to sit and read.

  Unfortunately, since I was still a ward of state, her parents always had to send in a letter requesting them to allow me to stay with them for an extended period of time, but they were always happy to do it for me. It’s nice to know there are some decent, loving parents out there. Her mom even fussed over the hospital visit and kept apologizing over how she couldn’t come when it happened, since they were on the west coast for Labor Day weekend. And apparently, Sophie didn’t tell them until after I was awake and out of ICU anyways.

  Heh heh. That got Sophie a scowl and a gentle smack on the back of the head from her mom.

  I was curled up on the sofa with a cotton blanket over my lap, gazing through the thickness of falling snowflakes when Sophie came in. I tossed my dirty paperback aside and accepted the mug of tea with honey she brought me.

  “So what’cha doing?” she asked, tucking her legs underneath her in the armchair.

  “Nothing. You?”

  “I’ve got a secret, and you know how bad I am at those.”

  Yep. Ohhhh, so bad. But on the bright side, she never really kept anything from me.

  “It’s only been a week and I’m about to bust. I can’t do this another week.”

  “Spill, my fellow little beater.”

  Her eyes sparkled upon hearing that cause Sophie never took ‘beater’ as an insult. “Well, Robert gave me your Christmas present.”

  My eyes perked. Partly because the tea was so freakin’ hot it singed my tongue, but mostly cause I’d been dying to find out what I’d get. I gave him his present before he left – a ski cap with built in headphones for his mp3 player. I know, not too exciting. But hell, he could afford anything he really wanted and this was something he could actually use on his trip. He said he hadn’t gotten my present yet and that he was gonna pick me up something in Europe. I figured he was just trying to pull one over on me by buying something in a currency I wasn’t familiar with, just so he could slip in a more expensive gift.

  That tricky little liar.

  “Re-ea-lly?” I sang connivingly. “And where exactly would this little present be?”

  I was actually kinda excited. Presents were rare for me and usually only ever came from Sophie.

  “It might be upstairs, but you don’t really want it already do you? He was very specific about waiting until Christmas.”

  I laughed. That’s cause he knew she’d never pull it off. He already got his, so I wanted mine too. “Gimme gimme gimme!”

  She skipped off merrily and returned a minute later with a small wrapped package.

  “Sneaky,” I said. “He knew if he stuck it in a bag, you’d be all over it.” I slid off the elaborate gold silk ribbon and ripped the glittery gold paper (awesome choice).

  Sophie chortled as she twirled the ribbon on her finger. “I think he may have spent the entire fifty bucks on the wrapping alone.”

  “Well, I didn’t specify if it included wrapping so I’m sure he didn’t count it towards his limit.” I paused once I had the box completely unwrapped. Sophie burst out in giggles. “Son of a…”

  He got me a phone. And not just any phone. The exact same model he had, which was the most elaborate and ridiculously expensive phone you could possibly get. I shook my head and tossed it aside. Sophie picked it up, and confused, she shook the box.

  “Jenna, open the box.”

  “No! I told him not to get me a phone. What the hell am I gonna do with that? A phone is a complete waste on me.”

  “Jenna, open the freakin’ gift!” And with that she hit me with it. “No way there’s a phone in there. It’s way too light. He’s just screwing with you.”

  I was suspicious about her lying to me but I opened the box anyways. She was actually right. Inside were a small cardboard jewelry box and a folded note.

  I sighed heavenly and passed the note to Sophie, thinking she would get a kick out of it.

  “Oh, come on!” she cried. “I could’ve given this to you a week ago and he wouldn’t have been mad at me? I suffered all week with this secret!”

  “You did very well considering,” I complimented as I opened the jewelry box. Inside was a wiry, bronze flower with a round gem in the center that hung off a matching, thin chain. The gem had a pale rosy color and was set deep, allowing the petals to shoot up and out, and curled in a way that only the tips of the petals would touch the skin. The petals looked like someone took the thinnest bronze wire they could find and randomly twisted an intricate design to shape them, making each wiry petal unique in its own way. It was delicate and vintage and I absolutely adored it.

  “Aww. This is perfect.” I allowed the chain to dangle in my hands and the flower twirled back and forth for Sophie to see.

  “I like that. And he stayed within your silly price range.”

  “And I got a sensible gift out of it. So…” I said as I smiled toward Sophie, “can I use your laptop? It’s late for him but I think I can still catch him.”

  She waved me off. “Yeah, yeah. Go.”

&n
bsp; I practically ran I was so giddy. I had already spoken with Robert for the day but I was pretty sure he wouldn’t mind another call. I buzzed him, and after it rang about eight times on his end, the groggiest version I’d ever seen of him answered.

  “Wow…You know, I’ve never actually seen this look before.”

  I heard a strong puff of air burst through his nose and he rubbed his eyes down. “Scaring you off?”

  “No. But would you rather get off until tomorrow?”

  I could tell the blinding light of the screen was getting to him by the way his eyes kept squinting and his head moved a little to the side. “No, just give me a second to adjust my eyes.”

  Instead of waiting, I went and pulled the curtains and the bedroom mostly blacked out. I flipped on Sophie’s bedside table lamp and crawled my way back to the laptop on the bed.

  “Much better, thank you. So what’s up?”

  I dangled the necklace in my hand for him to see. “I love this. Really. Thank you.”

  He chuckled and ran his fingers through his hair before saying, “I thought she was in the clear. When you didn’t say anything the first couple of days, I actually thought she’d make it to Christmas.”

  “Very sneaky giving it to her. I thought you were getting me something in Europe.”

  “I still might. If I see something I really like. And before you get all huffy, you’re not allowed to tell me I can’t get you a side gift for no apparent reason.”

  I waved it off.

  Eh. It was Christmas. I’d let it go provided he didn’t go overboard.

  “So…two more weeks?” I moaned, and stretched my body flat onto the bed, resting my chin on my hands.

  “Two more weeks,” he repeated, then he lay back in bed and adjusted the computer on his lap. “Hey, since I’m already up and it’s cozy dark for both of us, you want to strip down with me?”

  “What?!! No!”

  “Oh, come on. The only difference is there’s a computer between us now.” He shot me one of those trademark winks I’d come to love these past few months. Just evil. It’s like he knew they caused the butterflies in my stomach to flit around. When I didn’t answer, he jokingly added, “Everybody’s doing it.”

  Laughing, I said, “I don’t think you wanna use that as your argument.”