Love Storm

by Ruth Houston

  Love Storm

  Ruth Houston

  Prologue

  Zack is arrogant, mysterious, and he loves to irritate her. With him, there are always things left unsaid and under the surface. Yet when he leaves unexpectedly, Zack leaves a hole in her heart that she didn't know was supposed to be there.

  Chapter One: The End

  "Hello?"

  I knew it was her the minute I heard the greeting, but I went on with my usual telephone salutation anyway. Call it force of habit, if you like. "Hey, it's Winter."

  "Hey Win, what's up?" Eva said easily. The answer to that question was always the same, but again, out of habit, one of us always asked it.

  "Nothing," I said lightly, relaxing on my couch and running a finger across the edge of my mom's favorite pillow. "Just wanted to hear your voice, is all."

  Eva laughed a little. "Miss me that much, huh? You know we hung out just yesterday," she teased.

  I shrugged, even though she couldn't see me. "Yup," I said. "Besides, it's after nine, so I get free minutes." I smiled, already anticipating her response.

  "Aww, you're so cheap," Eva feigned disappointment. "Calling me only when you get free minutes on your cell."

  I laughed. We both knew that wasn't it at all. "What's up?"

  "I don't know," Eva exhaled. "I'm sitting on my bed right now. And I can't find Bunny. Where is she?" she said. I could picture her sitting on her bed with her back resting against the headboard, asking that question to her bedroom at large.

  "No idea," I replied. "Is she sitting on the end of your bed?"

  "No," Eva whined. "I can't find her. She's missing."

  I chuckled. "It's okay, you'll find her. You always do."

  Sighing and momentarily giving up her search for her favorite stuffed animal, Eva then said, "I'm bored. And tired."

  "What else is new? It's summer."

  "Oh yeah – that reminds me: how was SAT camp?" I knew she was grinning.

  "Psh," I said. "You know how these things are. It was alright. All the counselors were really nice… No hot guys though," I added.

  "Aw," Eva said, truly disappointed this time. "I had rather hoped you would find some uber hot dude and bring me back his number."

  I laughed. "Nope," I said. "No uber hot dudes. I mean, come on, it's SAT camp. What kind of super sexy guy in his right mind would spend a week of his summer at SAT camp?"

  "You have a point," she admitted. "Still, one can hope."

  I smiled. "So what else is up?"

  "Umm, not much…actually there's something I guess I should tell you…" she trailed off, and I detected a hint of trepidation in her voice. I waited patiently. Eva always revealed what was wrong in due time, so I never pushed her. There was a short pause before she plunged head first into it. "Well… It's my parents."

  We were quiet for a moment, and she let that statement sink in.

  "And?" I prompted her gently.

  "Today's the first official day of their divorce. From today on, they're separated." It was said casually, almost offhandedly, but I knew her better than that. Now that it was out in the open, she continued on quickly, almost as if stopping would be harder than going on.

  "It's all arranged. My mom has to move out by the end of the year, and…" she trailed off; I could tell she was holding back. "And… and about a hundred other things."

  I remained silent. Only pure shock prevented me from speaking. It was finally happening.

  "Oh Eva, I'm so sorry," I finally said, so sorrowful for my best friend it blocked out any other thoughts of SAT camp that I was going to tell her about. It was the only thing I could think of saying.

  My apology seemed to send her off. When she next spoke, I heard an unfamiliar waver in her voice, and that was really saying something. I had known her since the sixth grade, and I had only seen her cry once before – and that was also because of the situation with her parents.

  She sighed. "I'm so confused," she said, taking a rather shaky breath. Again, I could picture her sitting on her bed and hugging a pillow to her stomach, eyes bright with unshed tears. It was enough to make me want to run over to house that second.

  "What's going to happen?" I asked quietly.

  "Well…my dad has custody of all of us."

  "All of you?" I asked.

  "Yeah," Eva sighed. "All six of us."

  "Wait – why your dad?"

  "I don't know…" she said despairingly. "Because he makes more money? I don't know."

  "And your mom has to move out?" This idea was the most foreign to me – I could not remember a time when I had gone over to Eva's to not find her mom there, sitting at the dinner table sewing on a missing button for a pair of jeans, or bustling around the kitchen, frantically trying to get dinner on the table in time.

  "By the end of the year," my best friend confirmed.

  "Where is she going? I mean, she can't go far, because her work is right here…"

  "Oh, I don't know. Branner City is too expensive for her, so we know she won't be staying here. Maybe she'll rent an apartment in Hampton." Hampton was the closest town to Branner.

  I sighed. "How are the little ones?" Eva's family consisted of six children – Eva was the second oldest. Tristan was the oldest; he was going to be a senior in high school this year. Eva and I were two years younger than him, then came Anthony, who was going to be a freshman. Samantha was going into seventh grade, Matty into sixth, and Emily into fourth.

  "They're alright… Well, Anthony and Sam are still in Vermont for another two weeks visiting my grandparents, so… But Matty and Emily have been at home to witness the whole thing, which sucks. Emily's been crying a lot, and I feel so bad for her."

  "And you?" I asked. "That's what matters most. At least, to me anyway," I added on as an afterthought.

  Eva chuckled sadly. "Thanks, Winter. I've been okay. Just really confused as to what this is going to mean for all of us. And I'm more than a little pissed off too, because none of us any say in what's happening. But really… if you think about it, the whole reason we're being calm as I'm telling you this is because we kind of half-expected it."

  I silently agreed. I wanted to know why she hadn't warned me of this sooner, but I think I knew the answer to my question already. Eva was the type of person who never wanted to break bad news until she absolutely had to. And all the years of fights her parents had been having – all the disagreements and blowups – this was where it was going to culminate. Really, it was very anti-climatic. I was pretty sure her parents were being very civil toward each other about the whole situation. If I was honest with myself, in the back of my mind, I had seen it coming, but as always we humans never like to dwell on warnings our minds send us. We can disillusion ourselves like that, tricking our hearts into believing things that perhaps, deep down, we know aren't real.

  There was silence on the line for a long time. I sighed quietly and traced the meaningless patterns of embroidery on the pillow, feeling the roughness of the thread underneath my fingertips as I readjusted the phone against my ear. At length, I summoned up the courage to say, "Eva?"

  "Hmm?"

  "What are you doing tomorrow?"

  "Well, I have volleyball practice at one, then basketball practice after that." She sounded so tired, so weary, but I knew she was making an attempt at our normal, regular conversation.

  "How about Tuesday?"

  "Volleyball. I have volleyball camp Monday through Thursday now."

  "Friday?"

  "I think I'm going to go to Andrea's basketball game at 5:30."

  "When will you get home on Thursday?"

  "Camp ends at 5:30, so I should be home by 6."

  "Do you want to sleep over? On Thursday, I mean."

  I knew Eva was smiling at the normalcy o
f it. "Of course I want to. But I have to ask my dad. Now I have to ask him for everything. It's terrible. I know he's going to interrogate me until he squeezes out every last detail."

  "Alright," I said. "I'm picking you up on Thursday at 6:30 whether he wants me to or not, though."

  Eva laughed. It was music to my ears. "Okay. I'll try the nice way first though."

  "Yea, here's the nice way," I grinned. "You suck up to him all week, then pop the question about three minutes before I arrive, and I shall whisk you away as soon as he says yes."

  "And if he says no?"

  "I'll whisk you away anyway. Trust me, you need a night out of that house."

  "Too true, I do," Eva replied. "But I'll try for peaceful negotiations first."

  "Okay. You do that."

  We were silent again.

  "Winter?"

  "Yeah, Eva?"

  "Do you realize…? This is going to be the end of everything as we know it." She paused, and reiterated, "It's the end." We both knew what she was talking about.

  I sighed. "I know Eva. I know."

  Chapter Two: Just Another Day

  Eva

  Five weeks had passed since that fateful phone call. Winter and I were closer than ever, especially after the sleep over. We had discussed the divorce for a while, but mainly strove for a fun night. We had gone shopping the next day, gotten our ears double pierced (triple on one side, for Winter), and forgotten all worries. There was, as usual, that mad scramble to finish summer reading and the follow-up homework starting the third week of August. Every afternoon had found Winter and me sitting quietly in the library, eyes skimming over pages, fingers frantically fumbling through papers, pens scribbling at super sonic speed to beat the first day of school. Keeping busy helped, and work allowed me to forget everything. Especially with Winter, there was never time to think – just moments to be.

  School started the last week of August, and with it came many set backs and problems. Mom was still willing to help out around the house on weekends, but that was the only time we saw her. Otherwise, she spent her days at work, and her evenings trying to find an apartment in Hampton or organizing legal things. Transportation to and from school now rested on my father's shoulders, who, before the separation, had gone to work before any of us woke up and did not come home until eight in the evening. It was okay for Tristan, Anthony, and me, because Tristan had a car. But Sammy, Matty, and Emily all needed to be dropped off at their respective schools. Now my father was leaving the house later than usual, and getting home even later. We saw him even less than we saw Mom. He had taken to working on weekends too. Winter came over every afternoon to help out with all the chores that were newly assigned to Tristan and me, and the two of us were extremely grateful. But we knew she couldn't do this all year. When the school work really started to pick up, she wouldn't have enough time.

  "I am exhausted," my best friend said. She was sitting at our dining table, head resting in her arms. I looked out of the window behind her – it was raining softly. Through a tired haze, my brain was still awake enough to register that Winter's hair looked particularly nice today – I had always admired her long auburn tresses. She must have used some new shampoo or something – today it was shinier than usual, but still cascaded down her shoulders in pretty waves as it normally did. Hmm, I had to ask her about that later.

  "Me too," I whispered. We had just finished our homework, after getting dinner on the table and sentencing the kids to do the dishes. Winter had been here since school had ended, nearly eight hours ago. The clock read 11:03pm.

  "Me three," Tristan groaned. He was sitting next to Winter, supporting his head on his fist of a propped up elbow.

  "Tennis matches… start next week," Winter said softly. "To think, this is only the second week of school."

  "Dad's not home yet," Tristan made a mumbled observation.

  "I should go home now," Winter said.

  "Just stay," I sighed.

  "I don't wanna have to drive you home," Tristan muttered to her.

  "I'm flattered," Winter said, picking up her head. "If I didn't like you guys so much, I might have thought that this was a ploy to get me to help y'all out tomorrow morning." She grinned at me tiredly.

  "Well, you got me figured out, at least," my brother groaned again. "Just let me sleep in ten minutes extra tomorrow, be a good girl."

  Winter laughed.

  "Damn chem exam tomorrow," I moaned, which stopped her laughing.

  "Yea," she said, gazing at a vase morosely. "I haven't studied yet. Maybe I can study on the bus tomorrow morning."

  "Car," I corrected.

  "Wha…?" was the intelligent response.

  "You won't be taking the bus tomorrow," Tristan reminded. "Because you'll be coming with us. If you're staying over tonight."

  "Oh…oh, yeah, that's right," Winter said faintly, looking as if she really didn't care if she had to go to school tomorrow on the back of a hippopotamus, so long as she could go to sleep right then.

  These were pretty much what our nightly conversations consisted of – short, random sentences pieced together with what little energy we had left. It had already become tradition for the three of us to seek out a bit of peace, sympathy, and solace in these nightly meetings.

  "What's for breakfast tomorrow, Ev?" Winter asked.

  "Toast?"

  "Okay, as long as I get jam and butter duty," she replied. "You get toasting duty, Tristan."

  "Goody," my older brother feigned excitement with a wave of his hand. "That's something I can do while half-asleep." He ran his hands through his tousled dirty blonde hair, which was much the same color as mine. We looked the most alike out of all our siblings – it was the hair, and the same cerulean blue eyes, heart-shaped face, tall, lean figure. The only difference was that Tristan's looks were more rugged, and rougher around the edges, something, apparently, that drove the girls crazy. I, for one, couldn't see it.

  "Just don't burn down the house," Winter said in reply to Tristan's comment.

  "Lunch?" I then asked. We were chefs, discussing our daily menus before turning in. This was the last thing we talked about every night.

  "PB&J," Tristan replied promptly. "I'm not slapping another ham and cheese together this week."

  "Amen," Winter contributed.

  "I agree," I said.

  "Dinner?"

  "Those Asian instant Ramen noodles. Easiest thing ever," Tristan said. "A true blessing to mankind."

  "Are we done for tonight?" Winter yawned. "I could fall asleep right here."

  "Let's go to bed. You'd better call your parents first, Win. Night, Tris," I said as Winter and I got up.

  He waved a hand in reply, head buried in his arms.

  Winter and I were half-way up the stairs when we heard a muffled, frustrated yell downstairs from Tristan: "Aaaah crud, I haven't finished my English essay yet! Why?! Why me – ?!"

  Just the end of another day.

  xxxxx

  Looking back on those months, I cannot imagine how we would have survived without Winter and the support of her family. Her parents completely understood, and gave rides to us whenever we needed it, took the kids off our hands whenever they could manage it.

  Life was tiring, school was even worse. It was hell.

  I used to be a straight-A student. Honor-roll, star volleyball player, and MVP on the basketball team. Now, I was lucky to get Bs on tests and to be placed on the second string.

  To make matters worse (or funnier, if you wanted to be optimistic), Winter said some person I didn't know had been stalking me. Was she hallucinating? I thought so too.

  "I'm serious, Ev," she said as we pushed through the halls on our way to Spanish 5-6, the one class we had together in the morning. "He's always watching you. Always. I'll just be randomly looking around the cafeteria at lunch, and bam! I'll see him, sitting by himself, staring at you! And every time I walk you to Drama and Pre-Cal, he's there, waiting outside. I swear, the next time I see him �
�"

  "–The next time you see him," I interrupted her, "You'll point him out to me."

  She glanced reproachfully at me when I cut in. "Fine," she said. As we neared the Spanish classroom, she suddenly grabbed my arm.

  "Look!" she hissed, pulling on my arm. "Now he's taken to stalking you to Spanish class!"

  I looked at where she was pointing, and when I saw the person she was glaring furiously at, I laughed.

  "I fail to see what's so funny, Eva," Winter sniffed frostily, shifting her books to her other arm.

  "That's just Zack," I smiled and waved at him.

  Winter looked appalled. "Don't wave! For all we know, he could be some serial killer who takes a sadistic pleasure in stalking and scaring his victims before he tortures them to death!"

  I rolled my eyes. "Don't you remember Zack?"

  "No," she said immediately.

  "Oh come on, of course you remember him. Woodshop? Sixth grade?"

  No recognition dawned on my best friend's face. "No, I don't remember. That was five years ago."

  I sighed and gave a friendly smile to Zack, who was looking at Winter in mild amusement.

  "Hi," I said to him, as Winter gave him one last icy glance and stalked into the classroom.

  He nodded at me. "Apparently I'm a serial killer who takes a sadistic pleasure in stalking and scaring my victims before I torture them to death this morning."

  I laughed. "Don't mind her. She's got a lot to deal with right now."

  He gave me one last nod, then departed without a word. Weird. I shrugged it off and joined Winter inside the classroom.

  Her chocolate eyes flashed as I slid into the seat next to her. "Done fraternizing with the man who will ultimately be your downfall?"

  "Oh, stop being dramatic, Win," I said, smiling. The simple gesture seemed enough to melt her indignation.

  She sighed. "What did he want?"

  "Nothing. I don't know. I didn't ask," I replied.

  "That is so weird," she muttered. After a pause, she said, "He probably likes you, you know, if he's stalking you."

  "Zack? Nah, I'd never go out with someone like him anyway."