Unsound (Horizons #1)

by Ashley Summers

  I sat in bed with Michelle until she finally fell asleep.

  Jason

  When we got back to the school, Anthony said a hasty goodbye to his parents. Considering the weeks of buildup and excitement, it was a shitty way to see them off.

  “What’s up, man?” I asked Anthony as I caught up to him. We were almost at the cabin door, when he stopped and turned to look at me. I couldn’t place the look in his eyes, it was distant and cold, which were not traits I would ever use to describe Tony.

  “Nothing, bro,” he responded, turning away from me, “just tired. I want to go to sleep.”

  That was that. Conversation over. Over the next few days, Anthony’s attitude didn’t change. There was definitely something going on with him but I had no way to get to the bottom of it. When I talked to Jon about it, he thought maybe it had something to do with Marie. We noticed that Tony was giving her attitude too. That was definitely not like him.

  Julie

  A couple days later, Michelle walked into the cabin, pale, but not crying. I didn’t want to push her, so I stayed silent, reading, until she was ready to talk.

  “He wouldn’t talk to me,” Michelle said quietly as she sat down on my bed.

  I looked up from my book, confused.

  “He’s so mad, he wouldn’t even see me,” Michelle said.

  “Oh,” was all I could manage. I didn’t know what else to say.

  Silence from Jeff, Mister-Feelings? That was new. That was scary. That was unpredictable.

  “Lena didn’t say much either. She just said that Jeff needed to cool down. I thought I had given him enough time. I don’t know what to do.”

  “Don’t think about the worst case scenarios,” I started. I hated to see her so worked up when she didn’t know the outcome yet, “I know you’re upset, and that’s allowed, but you need to stop creating stories in your head. It’s going to work out, so you need to try to not jump to the worst case scenario. You’re going to make yourself sick doing that.”

  Michelle remained silent, but she nodded. At least she was listening to me.

  “I have an idea. I know it’s not smart for you to, but I’m going to call Deputy Evan for you,” I said. Michelle’s eyes got big.

  “I – I,” she stammered but I held up a hand.

  “He’s freaking out too. You have to realize that. He had the last conversation with Jeff, he hasn’t been able to reach out to you, and he’s worried about you just as much as you’re worried about him. I’m going to call him. Just let him know you’re ok, and tell him that you’re worried. I promise, it’s going to be okay. Just give me the number and I’ll go do it now.”

  “Ok,” Michelle croaked, her voice thick with emotion.

  I ran over to the main lobby and snuck up to the loft. Since Evan had a local number, the calls to him weren’t tracked. That’s how Michelle got away with talking to him for so long. I made sure I was in the clear before I dialed.

  Evan picked up on the first ring, “Hello?” he said excitedly. He was smart not to say more in case I was Jeff.

  “Hey Evan,” I said quietly.

  “Mi-Michelle?” he responded, doubt in his voice.

  “No, sorry, it’s Julie.”

  “Where’s Michelle? Is she okay?”

  “Yeah, sorry. Sorry. I don’t mean to scare you,” I rambled quickly. I was doing a lousy job at this, “I told Michelle I would give you a call. See how you were doing, let you know that she’s okay. I mean… she’s devastated and scared, but she’s okay. How are you holding up?”

  Evan chuckled in disbelief on the other side, “God, that girl. She’s checking up on me? I’m the one who got her into this mess. I convinced her to grab food. I ran her smack dab into Jeff and ruined everything, and she’s still checking on me?

  “She’s unbelievable,” he finished with a sigh. I could almost hear the wistful smile on his face. He loved Michelle.

  “She is, but you didn’t answer. Has Jeff called your boss yet? Is anything bad going to happen?”

  “I haven’t heard from the Sheriff yet today. I had off yesterday and I called out of work today and I’ve been hiding out in my apartment going crazy. I want to talk to Jeff.”

  “I’m not sure if that’s going to happen any time soon. He literally won’t talk to Michelle at all. None of us have even seen him. He’s holed up in his office,” I responded. I heard Evan sigh loudly.

  “I just wish I knew what to do. Do I talk to Jeff first or just come clean to Sheriff Frankel? She’s seventeen. I really don’t know what that means for me,” Evan said. He sounded so sad. I think he wanted nothing more than to protect Michelle but he didn’t know how too.

  “You know, Evan, is it okay that I call you Evan?”

  He chuckled again, “Yes, you can call be Evan when I’m off duty.”

  “Well, you’re not that much older. You’re only 20-years-old. Michelle is 17-years-old, legal in a few months. I don’t think you can really get in trouble for this. Plus, Michelle is an orphan, who’s going to press charges? I don’t think that Jeff can,” I commented, not really sure if I was correct.

  “I know. I know legally it’s okay, technically. It’s the ethics behind all of this. Considering where Michelle is… and me being in a position of authority. It looks bad. Really bad. I don’t want to ruin her life,” Evan said. I could hear the desperation in his voice.

  “You know, you two really are perfect for each other,” I responded, “she feels the exact same way. So if you’re both in agreement, neither of you is going to let the other ruin anyone’s life. This is going to work out.”

  This was the first time I actually felt any conviction behind my words. Hearing Evan say that their relationship wasn’t illegal definitely helped. If it were just an ethical issue, Jeff wouldn’t try to press charges. Evan wouldn’t have to leave his post. Nothing would happen to Michelle.

  We talked a little more, and I assured Evan that I would cheer Michelle up. I think Evan was considerably cheered by the conversation as well. That’s when I decided that if Jeff didn’t change his mind, we would find a way convince him that this was okay, that this was healthy for Michelle. She deserved that from us, and after speaking with him, Evan did too.

  I made it back to Michelle with the good news. Their relationship wasn’t illegal, and Jeff would calm down. Evan was sad and missed her and wished he was here to help her, but otherwise, he was okay. Michelle didn’t show it much, but she was relieved. It helped, though she chose to spend the rest of the day in bed anyway.

  JONATHAN

  More days had passed since the infamous dinner and Jay and I knew something was definitely up with Tony. He wouldn’t talk to us about it; he went from sulky to downright mean to Marie and the other girls. Jeff still wasn’t around, still angry with Michelle, so we couldn’t ask his opinion on the matter. It was up to us.

  Jay popped his head in the cabin, “Jon, let’s go. I just saw him walking into the woods.”

  I got up and pulled my sneakers on. I wanted to figure out what was going on with my friend. If Anthony wasn’t going to talk, we were going to stalk him and get to the bottom of it like little bitches. That’s what family did.

  When we finally got closer, we saw two large guys standing with Anthony, just beyond the clearing. We walked slowly out towards the trio—not sure what to expect.

  “You sent your brother away Tony, this is your fault—you knew he was going to get big time for this,” Thug Number One said.

  “And you lost the stash… all of it!” Thug Number Two added.

  “What the hell were you thinking? I’m in rehab! They sent me out here so I wouldn’t be involved with you assholes. When Freddy showed me the bag, I flushed it,” Tony yelled back, pacing back and forth. That’s when he saw Jay and me standing there.

  “Guys, what the fuck, you followed me?” he yelled at us.

  “Who the fuck are they?” Thug One asked, as Thug Two reached to the back of his waistband.

  “
They’re no one,” Anthony said, “they’re leaving. Just let them leave.”

  “Are you fucking crazy? So they go back and rat like you? They’re in this now…” Thug Two said, his hand still behind his back.

  “Okay, there was an easy way for this, but now…” Thug One stopped talking and looked past the three of us. I thought I heard something too, or rather someone walking through the trees near us.

  “Shut up,” Thug Two ordered us, finally pulling a gun out from behind his back.

  That’s when a very pretty blonde girl appeared a few yards off. Julie was half dressed in a sports bra, spandex running tights and sneakers, shaking a cigarette out of a pack as she walked towards the clearing. She had her iPod in and sang to herself as she walked closer.

  Then she saw us. She stood there, stunned for a moment, taking in the scene. Confused, she walked slowly closer to us. That’s when Julie saw the gun and screamed dropping her belongings on the forest floor.

  I was closest and stepped up to her, pulling her back to my chest with one arm, covering her mouth with the other. I never took my eyes off the gun, but I felt her smooth flat stomach underneath my hand and felt the excitement rise in my chest and my pants despite the situation. I slid my hand down to find hers, whispering in her ear that it was okay.

  I started to bring Julie behind me, to protect her and block her from view, but then I saw Tony out of the corner of my eye.

  Thug Two was shamelessly checking Julie out and Tony took the opportunity to charge him. In the struggle, the gun went off. I immediately pulled Julie to the forest floor and covered her body with mine.

  Tony managed to knock Thug Two out as Jay did work on Thug One. I think Jay was excited to get into a fight. I didn’t know he had it in him, but he managed to knock the guy out and beat him a little more for good measure.

  Luckily, we didn’t have to wait long. The gunshot was heard from campus and Gary, the groundskeeper, came running into the clearing to see what was going on.

  “Are you okay?” I asked Julie softly. I could see a light sweat in her hairline from her workout but her smell was intoxicating—perfume mixed with salty, sweet sweat. I dropped my head and our lips brushed for a moment.

  “Uh huh,” she managed to gulp out as I pulled back. She was shaking.

  I got up slowly and pulled her to stand next to me. I felt her trembling and put my arm around her waist.

  Eventually we heard sirens in the distance.

  Julie

  Hours later, I laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling. I knew I was going to have nightmares again.

  I’ve had a gun pulled on me before, but this was different. This wasn’t used to scare me into conceding. That guy would have hurt me if he had to.

  I didn’t want Jon to leave my side. I felt safe with him there with his arm around me. But once the police came, they separated everyone to get our statements. I still didn’t understand who those guys were and why they were there. I had mixed emotions about getting the whole truth. I wasn’t sure if knowing everything would help my impending nightmares or make them more real.

  I wished that I were able to sleep next to Jon. There was just something about him that made me feel safe. He automatically protected me during the whole ordeal. He didn’t think, just acted. That kind of strength and complete lack of indecision amazed me. I could never be strong like that. In fact, I froze and screamed like a baby.

  I couldn’t keep my mind away from Jon. How it felt to have his arms pulling me against him. How it felt to be pressed beneath him. How it felt to have his lips brush mine. I wanted to feel a lot more of that, without the imposing threat of some asshole wielding a gun.

  The more I let Jon fill my head, the less I thought about the gun and finally I drifted off to sleep without the nightmares.

  CHAPTER THREE

  “You realize that our mistrust of the

  future makes it hard to give up the past.”

  Julie

  With all the excitement in the woods, my fight with Marie was somewhat forgotten. But Jeff was chipper and excited to remind me Tuesday morning during breakfast.

  I wasn't particularly stoked for solo dish duty, so I procrastinated. I wanted to get to the bottom of the disconnected number.

  I walked up to the phone and tried again, just getting the same recording.

  I hung up slowly and sat back in my chair.

  "No one picking up?" Mindy asked. I jumped, startled. I hadn't seen her sitting up there, reading in an armchair.

  "Jesus, I didn't see you," I said, holding my chest.

  "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. So who you trying to call?" Mindy asked.

  "How is that any of your business?" I asked her defensively.

  "It's not, I was just making conversation. You look worried is all," Mindy responded calmly. She looked back at her book. She obviously was fine either way—being my friend or not didn’t affect her.

  I ignored her and picked up the phone again. I tried a different number, this time someone answered.

  Mindy could only hear my side of the conversation.

  What do you mean? How? When did it happen? Who found her?

  At the last question, I saw Mindy lift her head again and look at me. I turned my back to her as much as possible considering the phone chord. I could feel the tenseness in my shoulders and I was gripping the phone so hard, I'm sure my knuckles were turning white.

  "Okay, thanks," my voice trailed off and I slowly hung the phone up.

  "How old was she?" Mindy asked, startling me again. I had momentarily forgotten she was there although I felt her presence.

  "Jesus!" I exclaimed again as I turned around, hand on my chest again. The episode in the woods definitely cranked up my nerves.

  I looked at Mindy and she just looked back, searching my eyes as I searched hers. I let my wall slip a fraction, I wasn't sure what she was looking for, but I was willing to let her try.

  Mindy

  I could see anger and irritation masking the sadness in her eyes. Julie looked at me intently, searching for something. I stared blankly back at her. I had nothing to hide.

  She didn't intimidate me, although I think that's what she wanted. "How old?" I asked again, although I already knew the answer. This poor girl had died young.

  "Our age," Julie caved, falling back into her chair, "it was her birthday. I just wanted to say…." Julie trailed off again, lost in thought.

  "Are you okay?" I asked, stupidly, not knowing what else to say. I'm sorry seemed pointless and I wasn't great at comforting others. I was too awkward for emotional connections.

  "Why do you care?" Julie demanded, leaning forward in her chair again, resting her hands on her knees.

  "I don't know," I said offhandedly. It was the truth, "I'm sure you're supposed to intimidate me. I'm sure that's what you want. You want to push everyone as far away from you as possible. Trust me, I get it. I'm in the same boat. People suck.

  "But you don't intimidate me. Sorry. I'm not Marie," I laughed, "although that girl definitely scares easy. When you started for her I thought she was gonna piss herself."

  Julie laughed a genuine laugh, and sat back in her chair.

  As her laughter faded she looked off into the distance, "she was one of my roommates in L.A. Our other roommate, well… I had found her the night I got picked up by the cops. I don't know how long she had been dead for. I was a little fucked up when I found her, my reactions were a little slow. But I saw the needle. I knew she had overdosed. It was an accident.

  "Kitty wasn't home yet – she was probably out with a client."

  The wheels started to turn in my head: clients and girls named Kitty, three teenage girls living in an apartment. It didn't take long for me to piece together what Julie was admitting to me.

  "I hadn't meant for it to spread. I just wanted to get rid of her i.d., some of her pictures. The drugs. I don't know why I didn't flush them. I thought it was a much better idea to toss it all into the trash can and throw
in a match. I don't really know what happened. But the apartment quickly… or possibly slowly, who knows, went up in flames around me.

  "But now Kitty, her real name was Charlotte. I don't really know what happened. But they found her dumped. Literally. They found her in a dumpster. Who does that? I wonder if they found Charlotte's i.d.," Julie looked up at the ceiling, head back on the chair in an attempt to keep the tears in.

  "Looks like that fire was the smartest thing you've ever done," I commented. I saw a smile break slowly across her face and she tilted her head back down to look at me. Her wall went back up and her emotions were shut off. I wondered if that was something I could learn from this broken girl. I would love to have the ability to shut off all the emotions that were constantly flowing through me.

  "It's all water… under the bridge," Julie said with a groan as she got up, "I have dish duty, thanks to Marie's outburst."

  "What did she say to you anyway?" I asked, curious what that had been about.

  "She called me a whore," Julie said, rolling her eyes with a shrug, "I guess I'm a little… sensitive about that."

  "I'll walk down to the kitchen with you," I offered, changing the subject.

  Julie just nodded and we walked down together. The cafeteria should have been empty considering the off-hour, but as I passed the doors, I noticed movement towards the back.

  "Shh," I prodded Julie with my elbow as I pulled her to stop next to me.

  Marie and Anthony, though they thought they were discreet, were too lost in their moment to notice anything except kissing each other.

  * * *

  Days passed, classes went on, but Julie and I now picked up on the looks, the smiles, and the extra tutoring sessions. Which right now, Marie and Anthony were having in their dark corner of the cafeteria.

  We didn't tell anyone else, but when we got some time alone, which was often now that Michelle was in solitude on probation, we speculated on the affair. I had noticed that Jon didn't disappear anymore. I wondered what he thought, what he noticed. Did he realize it had been a while since he had a make-out-sesh with Marie in the tool shed?