Emerge: The Volunteer: An Emerge Short Story
Page 5
“We always intended to come home, and when the opportunity presented itself, we felt like we had to take it. I’m just sorry it was so sudden.”
“So we’re really just ignoring the mad-dash across the planet in the middle of the night? The guns? The fact that even you seemed surprised when Dad announced we were coming here?”
“Honey, you need to focus on making a life here.” She expertly skated over the taboo subject. “I was so proud of you in Sydney. It was wonderful to see you come out of your shell. I’ve always hated how our jobs have kept us on the move so much, but—”
“Don’t, Mom,” she said. “You can’t keep calling what we do ‘moving.’”
“That’s all behind us,” Lily said firmly. “I promise this is our home now.”
“Until next time,” Allie muttered. She just couldn’t trust that this really was the last time.
“Have you had time to check out the beach?” Lily asked.
“Yeah, I did some investigating last night. The beaches here are weird. And it smells funny.” She made a face at her mother.
“I’ll miss the ocean too, but it’ll feel like home in no time,” Lily promised. “You should go exploring, get familiar with the island. I loved it here when I was a kid.”
“I don’t know, something’s off about this place, Ma.”
“Alright, Allie-girl. Dinner will be ready in an hour. I trust you don’t need a GPS to find the kitchen?” She laughed as she left the room.
Allie headed up to her rooftop garden where the grass and wildflowers grew tall in a haphazard kind of way. A small weathered deck at the center was raised just enough to maximize the view of the city across the Lake Erie Bay.
Who knew they had islands in Cleveland? She leaned over the parapet to gaze at the skyline in the distance.
She fiddled with her necklace, a nervous habit. Lily had given her the glittery, coal-black pendant a few years ago. It was a family heirloom, and as their adopted daughter, Allie treasured it more than anything she owned.
She tugged at her necklace now, feeling anxious and uncertain about everything. She wanted to believe this really would be their permanent home, but it was hard to accept. The way they left Sydney, only to arrive on Kelleys Island—to this house, like this fabricated, perfect life had been waiting for them all along. It was just too easy.
Then there was Aidan and his friends. She was curious about them and the way they accepted her so readily, but Aidan was especially intriguing. He was totally comfortable with her. Even with Gavin, it was always like he had to power through his hesitation, like it was some unpleasant thing he had to deal with if he wanted to be with her. With Aidan, there was no uneasiness—something she’d never experienced before. But there was something else there too. She liked him more than she cared to admit. Their initial attraction to each other was intense, and Allie knew she wasn’t ready for that. But if anyone was truly capable of being her friend, it was Aidan, and if she was truly honest with herself, she was desperate to explore that possibility. She could not face the lonely life she’d learned to accept before Gavin. Not now, when she knew what it was like to have real friends. She refused to go back.
Allie was determined to connect with Aidan. The real Aidan. If he could put his mask away long enough to let her in.
~~~
Exhausted after another sleepless night, and not in the best of moods, Allie sipped her coffee as she leaned over the ferryboat railing. Shivering in the cool breeze, she watched the queue of cars creeping onto the deck below. She was suddenly hyper-aware of the sleek, steel gray car passing beneath her feet. It was one of those expensive, sporty European hybrid things with dark tinted windows.
Aidan and his friends. She didn’t pause to consider how she knew they were in that particular car.
He soon joined her on the upper deck, while the others strayed off with their friends. He had fake Aidan firmly in place as he sidled up beside her. His elbow brushed her arm and they both stilled at the normal contact. The spark of attraction was definitely still there, but Allie felt a strong urge to put him securely in the “friend” box and keep him there. He obviously did not.
“Morning, Lex.” He slid closer, letting the mask fall away. He didn’t seem capable of keeping it in place around her.
“Knock it off with the Lex crap,” she snapped.
Jeez, Allie! She winced at her tone. No wonder you have trouble making friends!
“Not a morning person?” His grin was contagious. He was more like himself now.
“Sorry, I guess I’m not really the bright-eyed sort.” She couldn’t help her smile. “Dude, is that a violin strapped to your back?”
“Yeah. That supposed to be funny?”
“Band geek? Doesn’t really fit the whole tattooed-muscled-pretty-jock-boy thing you’ve got going on.”
“Pretty? I do not play in the marching band, sweetheart. I’m first violinist and concertmaster of the Cliffton Orchestra.”
“Eh, play me some Bach and this cranky redhead will shut up.”
“You’re all sorts of trouble, aren’t you?” he said dryly.
“Me? You might as well be holding a sign that says ‘WARNING: dark and dangerous. Keep out.’”
“Are you normally this mean or is it just me?” He gave her an exasperated look.
“Sorry, it’s me. I haven’t slept in like a year, so I’m crabby. But I’m afraid the sarcasm comes with the package. You hang out with me long enough you’re bound to get burned.”
“Allie, how old are you?” The odd question caught her by surprise.
“I skipped second grade so I won’t be sixteen for another month.”
“That explains it.”
“Explains what?”
“I’m just trying to figure you out.”
“I promise I’m not all that complicated.”
“I beg to differ.”
“Enough about me. What’s with them?” She rolled her eyes at Sasha and the others. Quinn and Graham were pretending like they hadn’t been caught staring. Sasha waved, mouthing something Allie couldn’t quite make out. And Chloe took a bashful step behind Quinn. Aidan’s friends all reacted to Allie the way most people did, but they also seemed utterly fascinated with her and that kinda creeped her out.
“They find you bizarrely intimidating.”
“Most people do,” she said frankly, “but could you make the staring stop?”
“I’ll talk to them.”
“It’s kinda strange how all your friends are adopted,” she said.
“You know anything about your birth parents?” he asked.
“Not a thing.”
“Same here.”
“Sometimes I actually forget Lily and Carson aren’t my real parents. They seem so much a part of me.”
“My dad and I are a lot alike,” Aidan said hesitantly. “It’s like he was supposed to be my father, and Sasha might as well be my twin. What’s your family like?”
“My mom’s an archeologist and my dad’s a cultural anthropologist, which is why we’ve moved so much. My older sister, Joscelin, is their biological daughter, but she’s busy doing her residency at a hospital in Bali.” Allie really missed her big sister and wished she could have seen Joss one more time before fleeing the hemisphere.
“So, who was that with you back at the dock?” Aidan asked absently.
“My mom.”
“What? How?”
“What do you mean how?” Allie laughed. “The usual way. Mom without a baby, baby without a mom. Sign some papers, instant family.”
“Right. I ah—she’s an archeologist, huh?” he rambled.
“Yeah, we’ve spent a lot of time on some cool sites, but my favorite was the dig in Luxor where I got to visit Hatshepsut’s Temple and the Valley of the Kings and Queens.”
“So your mom is the new Egyptian curator at the museum.”
“Yeah, how’d you know?”
“My dad’s head curator. He was totally psyched to get h
er here.” A dark shadow crossed his face, like he was struggling to put fake Aidan back in place.
“You’re kinda strange,” Allie said bluntly.
“Back atcha, sweetheart.”
“No, no. Don’t you sweetheart me. I’ve seen you with all your idiot girls. Don’t lump me in with the rest of your sweethearts,” she said.
“I wouldn’t dare! I guess I do that when I can’t remember their names, but I couldn’t possibly forget yours, Lex.”
“Clearly your memory is failing you again. It’s Allie.”
“You sound like my friend, Wendy. She tells me I’m an idiot all the time.”
“You know you can be yourself around me, right?” she asked carefully.
“I’m beginning to see that.”
“You’ll have to introduce me to Wendy. She sounds smart.”
“She’s a very gifted cellist and was just accepted to the Cologne University of Music in Germany a few weeks ago,” he said sadly.
Allie could see how much he missed his girlfriend. Despite the strange vibe between them, she was intrigued with Aidan. He was just as fascinated with her as she was with him, but the overwhelming relief she felt just being near him was enough to tell her they would either be really good for each other or really, really bad.
Click to Keep Reading
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Melissa A. Craven (the “A” stands for Ann in case you were wondering) was born near Atlanta, Georgia, but moved to Cleveland, Ohio at the age of seventeen. She still thinks of Cleveland as home, so it was only natural for Emerge to take place there.
Today, she’s back in Atlanta—for some reason she can’t seem to stay away from the ungodly heat that makes her long for things like “lake effect snow” and wind that will knock you flat.
Melissa decided a long time ago that the “life checklist” everyone else was clutching so tightly in their fists, just wasn’t for her. She does everything backwards because she’s weird like that.
She is an avid student of art and design, and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of West Georgia in 2009. She worked as an interior designer for several years, but she’s always thought she might like to be a writer when she grows up.
In her spare time, if she has any, she enjoys shopping for derelict furniture she refinishes to exercise the interior design part of her brain.