Set In Stone

by Balmanno, Beth

  Noel sighed then, a deep, dark sigh. “Fine.” He reached out and tipped up my chin. “Will you promise me one thing, though?”

  I was wary of making promises. “What?”

  Those ice blue eyes of his burned into mine. “Promise me you won’t waste all of your wishes on this. On keeping me here.”

  He looked so sad, so stricken, that I nodded my head. I could give up one day and save a single wish for that purpose, to satisfy him, I thought. It wouldn’t be for me.

  “So now what?” I asked. We stood on the doorstep, close but no longer touching.

  “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I wasn’t prepared for this. For more time. Do we go back to the way things were before? Can we?”

  “I can.”

  “OK,” he agreed. “Let’s forget last night ever happened.”

  “Not all of last night,” I told him. “There were some parts I liked.”

  “Yes,” he conceded, a small smile on his face. “There were some.” He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “I should go. I don’t want to keep you from your weekend plans.”

  “What weekend plans? I was going to study for finals.”

  “You should get back to that,” he said.

  “Wait.” I didn’t want him to leave. “What about you? Are you going to school next week? Taking finals?”

  “I hope not.” He looked meaningfully at me.

  “Oh.” Of course. He hoped I’d have made my decision by then. “Well, you could stay and help me study,” I offered. “Or just keep me company.”

  “No.”

  I was hurt. “Why not?”

  He glanced down the street. A white Audi approached, slowing down as it neared my driveway.

  “Because you have company.”

  Geoff and Fanchon had returned.

  Chapter 53

  “Will you come back?” I asked him. “Tonight?”

  Noel shook his head. “Not tonight. I’ll come tomorrow.” He left then, opening the door of his car just as Geoff and Fanchon stepped out of theirs. Geoff watched him as he drove away, his hands on his hips.

  “Let’s go inside,” Fanchon suggested. “Or in your backyard or something. We can talk.”

  A few minutes later, we were sitting outside on the patio. I’d rummaged around in the kitchen and put together a tray of food that could pass as a suitable snack, cheese and crackers and a pitcher full of lemonade. Geoff helped himself, filling his cup to the brim and piling a plate high.

  I filled up a glass, too, but ignored the food. I couldn’t eat, not with the conversation that loomed in front of me. I wasn’t ready to discuss—much less decide on—anything.

  Fanchon sipped her lemonade. “So, what options are you looking at?”

  “Well, I don’t really have anything specific,” I said.

  Geoff groaned and Fanchon shot him a warning look. I took a deep breath and expelled it. I needed to do this.

  “Not that I haven’t thought about it,” I clarified. “Just that I don’t know what would work best. I mean, I don’t think it should be found again, you know? And I don’t think I would know how to destroy it for good. I thought about throwing it into a fire or something…” My stomach tightened.

  “Well, if it’s quartz the melting point is incredibly high,” Geoff said. “You’d need access to some serious equipment to melt that thing down.”

  Fanchon shook her head. “But melted rock just reforms, right? Why would this rock be any different? So its power would still be there.”

  I hadn’t thought of this.

  Geoff cleaned his plate and reached for more. “What were your other ideas?”

  “Burying it? Throwing it in the Potomac?” Both options sounded ridiculously inadequate.

  Geoff shook his head. “I don’t know. Burying it might work…but someone could easily dig it up, right? And what’s to say that Leo or Noel wouldn’t come back and ask you to do that? Or me or Fanchon or whoever else might accompany you when you do it?” He popped a cracker in his mouth.

  “OK, so I guess that option is out,” I admitted. “But what about the river? No one would know where it would end up…”

  He nodded. “Right. But the river flows, Val…and it could just as easily wash up somewhere on shore before it made its way into the Chesapeake.”

  “But it’s a rock,” Fanchon pointed out. “Wouldn’t it just sink?”

  “You would think,” he said. “But moving water is pretty powerful. I wouldn’t just assume it would sink to the bottom and stay there. Is that a gamble you’re willing to take?”

  I was frustrated. “Well, what other option is there, then? I don’t have any other ideas.”

  All three of us were silent for a moment. I held my empty glass to my forehead. The glass itself was still cool, the moisture providing welcome relief from the afternoon heat.

  “Well, maybe you could throw it directly into the Chesapeake,” Geoff suggested. “Get on a boat, head right into the middle of the bay and drop it in. I don’t know the exact depth but I’m guessing it’s deep.”

  “And she’s going to find a boat where?” Fanchon asked, rolling her eyes. “The bay is a good idea, I think. We just need to find out if it’s deep enough…and if you can access it without a boat.”

  Geoff looked at me. “Can you grab your computer?”

  I nodded and ran inside to retrieve it. Geoff commandeered it and started the search. Fanchon moved closer to me. She’d stripped off her shirt, revealing a dark blue tank top that contrasted sharply with her pale, freckled skin.

  “Are you doing OK?” she asked, her voice low.

  I traced my finger around the rim of my glass. “Not really.”

  Her eyes were troubled, full of sympathy. “I can’t imagine how hard this is for you. If I had to say goodbye to someone I loved…say goodbye forever…” She glanced at Geoff. “I don’t know if I could do it.”

  Fanchon and Geoff? My eyes widened. Before I could ask her, Geoff looked up.

  “OK, here we go,” he began. “Facts about Chesapeake Bay. It looks like it’s 117 feet at its deepest which is…” He scanned the screen, scrolling down as he read. “…which is at Bloody Point, Maryland. Nice name. Anyway, this channel apparently adjoins a very shallow section of the bay which is only eight feet deep. And it looks like it’s only accessible by water.”

  “So that option is out,” Fanchon commented.

  Geoff sat back and closed his eyes. “Yeah. I think you’re probably right. We need another body of water.”

  “Hey,” Fanchon said excitedly. “What about Lake Anna? Down by Fredericksburg?”

  “I’ve never been there,” Geoff said.

  They both looked at me. “Me, neither.”

  “I used to go there with my dad when I was little,” Fanchon told us. “We’d play on the beach and go swimming, stuff like that. I’d bet it’s fairly deep.”

  “And a lake has no current,” Geoff said. “Which, in this case, is definitely a good thing.”

  “That still doesn’t solve the boat problem,” I said. “I’m not just going to toss it in to the water from the beach, am I? Or swim out and drop out?”

  “No, you want it deeper than that.” Geoff was back on the computer, typing. “Lake Anna. This says it’s as deep as eighty feet in certain spots. Of course, there are other lakes that are two hundred feet deep, but nothing within a day’s drive. Looks like we should stick with Anna.”

  He shut the laptop and disappeared into the house.

  With that decision seemingly made, Fanchon spoke. “I can’t believe how calm you are about all of this.”

  I couldn’t believe it, either. I’d just spent the last hour calmly discussing the most effective way to break my heart. The conversation felt surreal, as though I needed to pinch myself to prove it was really happening.

  I thought for a moment before responding. “I don’t really have a choice, you know?” I said. “I mean, I could cry and fall apart but it wouldn�
��t change anything. The outcome would still be the same tomorrow.” How wise I sounded, how serene I appeared to be.

  “But still…” She didn’t finish.

  I didn’t want to dwell on the emotions below the surface, like magma building and threatening to explode, so I changed the subject. “What’s the deal with you and Geoff?”

  Leo had hinted at it earlier that morning but I’d never seen anything to indicate they were together.

  Her face lit up. “I dunno. It—us—was sort of gradual. But then again, it happened sort of fast. It’s hard to describe.”

  I emptied the pitcher of lemonade into my glass. I took a sip and puckered.

  “What do you mean?”

  Fanchon’s face flushed, either from embarrassment or from the heat. “Well, I think you were actually the tipping point.”

  “Me?”

  She laughed. “Don’t look so horrified. We’d always spent time together, just hanging out and stuff. Strictly friends. But then he started coming by more frequently, with questions for me and my mom, trying to help you out with all of this.” She paused. “But the day it happened, when things…changed, was that day you came over from school. During school.”

  I remembered. Geoff had been livid with me that day.

  “After he dropped you off, he came back to the house. We had a huge blow-out fight. He was mad at me for going so easy on you and I was mad at him for being such an ass. He was screaming, I was crying and the next thing I knew, he was kissing me.”

  She looked at me but I had cast my eyes down. A small part of me was happy for them, but inside, I ached. The very thing that had brought them together was tearing me away from the person I cared about, the person I loved and wanted to be with.

  “It isn’t fair, is it?” Fanchon said, intuiting my thoughts. “I hate being happy when you’re so miserable. I feel like the very worst sort of friend.”

  I didn’t have to respond because Geoff reappeared. I was grateful.

  “I think your parents are home,” he said. “I heard the garage door open.”

  My mom appeared at the door. She must have changed out of her tennis outfit at the club because she was dressed in a pink and white striped sun dress and matching striped sandals. I instantly thought of a candy striper. Well, a model dressed as a candy striper.

  “Is this another new friend?” Mom studied Fanchon’s short, spiky hair and piercings with a reserved smile.

  I made introductions and repeated them for my dad when he stepped out to join us.

  Dad settled himself in the chair Geoff had vacated. “So. Summer. You ready to get started on driver’s ed? There’s a class starting next Monday.”

  “Sure.” I tried to sound convincing. But I couldn’t think that far ahead. Monday represented a whole different era, as far as I was concerned.

  Geoff interrupted. “I think we’re going to get going. It’s almost two o’clock.”

  “No wonder I’m so hungry!” Fanchon turned to me. “Do you want to come with us? Grab some lunch?”

  I shook my head. I wasn’t hungry and tagging along as the third wheel didn’t sound particularly appealing. “I should probably study.”

  They left and I headed inside. Mom followed me in and filled a glass of water. “I’m surprised Noel isn’t over. Did you guys have a good time last night?”

  I chose my words carefully. “It was magical.” I tried to keep my tone light.

  She sighed. “I remember when your dad and I did the night tour of the monuments. It was so romantic.”

  She gazed out the window, lost in memories. I watched her for a minute before slipping back up to my room, to the memories I had and the memories that lurked in the days ahead, waiting.

  Chapter 54

  The next morning, I used another precious drop from my bottle before going downstairs for breakfast. Mom and Dad sipped coffee at the kitchen table, plates of pancakes almost hidden by their respective sections of the Post.

  “Pancakes are on the counter.” Dad said. “You might want to heat them up.”

  I didn’t want any but I speared a couple anyway and, after plopping them on to a plate, zapped them in the microwave for a minute. They came out steaming, too hot to eat. I poured a glass of juice.

  “Is Noel coming over today?” Mom asked.

  I nodded. “I think so.”

  Dad cleared his throat and set down his paper. “I think we should probably set some boundaries. You seem serious about this boy. I’m not sure how comfortable I am having you alone with him in the house while your mother and I are gone.”

  I poured syrup over my pancakes. “OK.”

  “So we’re agreed? He doesn’t come over unless we’re home.”

  The conversation was pointless but I continued. “But he can come and pick me up? We can go somewhere?”

  I thought about last night and what had almost happened. Didn’t he realize that I could just as easily get in trouble somewhere else—like at Noel’s unsupervised house?

  “Well…” Dad hedged.

  Mom rolled her eyes. “Michael, she’s a teenager. Like it or not, she’s going to date. Lay down the rules and be done. You don’t want them here alone, fine. But she can go out with him, for God’s sake.”

  It was an odd occasion, having Mom champion my cause.

  “Fine,” Dad agreed reluctantly. “No hanging out here.”

  The doorbell rang and Mom’s face brightened. “That must be him.” She stood up to get the door and I wondered again whose boyfriend was coming to visit.

  Mom returned with Noel. He smiled and said hello, declining her offer of breakfast or coffee.

  “I came to see if Valerie was up for going somewhere,” he said.

  My entire face lit up, I was sure of it.

  I finished my pancakes and put my plate in the dishwasher. “Where to?”

  “Wait a minute,” Dad said. “What about finals? Don’t you have studying to do?”

  “It won’t be all day, sir,” Noel said quickly. “We’d be home in the afternoon. Plenty of time to get some last-minute studying in.”

  “Of course you can go,” Mom said, ignoring the frown on Dad’s face. “Go get ready, Val.”

  I looked down at my denim shorts and blue tank top. “I am ready.”

  “You look beautiful,” Noel said to me. “Put on some tennis shoes and you’ll be perfect.”

  I ran upstairs to my room. Noel followed me but stayed in the doorway.

  “You can come in, you know.” I was on my bed, pulling my socks on and lacing up my shoes.

  “No thanks,” he said lightly. “I don’t want to get too close…just in case.”

  “We’re going to be right next to each other in your car, aren’t we? Besides, I made my wish already…and you’re here, aren’t you?”

  “Not to you. To the stone.”

  “Oh.” I hadn’t thought of that. I stood up. “Ready.”

  A troubled look crossed his face. “Will you do me one more favor? Bring the bottle. Just in case.”

  My heart quickened but I didn’t say anything. I pulled the bottle out of my drawer and tucked it in my pocket.

  Once in the car, we drove toward Old Town. We hit every red light on Duke Street.

  “Torpedo Factory again?” I asked and wondered why I would need tennis shoes for that.

  “Nope.” He turned onto the GW Parkway, heading toward DC. Traffic lightened considerably as we left the stoplights and traffic behind.

  “Museums?” I guessed. “The Mall?”

  “We’ve already done that.”

  “So where are we going?”

  “Patience,” he teased.

  We passed the Arlington and Roosevelt bridges that spanned the Potomac, providing access to DC. Noel pulled in to a parking lot off the Parkway and switched off the car.

  “The island?” Theodore Roosevelt Island was a sizable slab of land in the middle of the river, straddling the waters between Virginia and Washington DC. I’d been there
once years ago, a day trip with my mom and Jess, and vaguely remembered the miles of trails and footbridges. We’d gone in late August and the mosquitoes had been almost as bad as the oppressive heat. I had been miserable.

  Noel got out of the car and grabbed a backpack from the back seat before locking the doors.

  “Why here?” I asked curiously.

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. I wanted to see a little of what I love most of this world, I guess. Nature.”

  We stepped on to the footbridge, a long wooden walkway that spanned the length of the Virginia side of the river. The other end was swallowed by trees and foliage, a jungle of greenery. There were joggers and couples traversing the bridge, waving hellos as we passed by. Once across, we turned down a wide path that led us away from downtown and from the view of the monuments and office buildings.

  We walked in silence and I marveled at how quiet the island was. Civilization, with its cars and buses and hordes of people, could have been thousands of miles away. The only sounds we heard were the singsong calls of cardinals and the raspy cries of blue jays, and the rustling of leaves as the breeze stole through the leafy canopy overhead.

  Noel glanced down both directions of the path and then, grabbing my hand, pulled me off the trail and into the brush.

  “What--?”

  He held his finger to his lips to silence me. We moved through the forest, navigating the brambles and brush, sidestepping fallen branches. Twenty or so yards in, the obstacles disappeared and we were in a shaded clearing. He looked around for a moment, his head cocked as he observed the trees and tuned in to the sounds around us. Satisfied, he sat down on the grass and patted a spot next to him.

  “Join me?” he asked.

  I sat down. He unzipped the pack he’d brought and pulled out two stainless steel water bottles. He handed one to me and I unscrewed the lid, taking a long drink.

  “So we’re getting in touch with nature today,” I said. I took another drink. The day wasn’t hot yet but the threat was there, that hint of warmth waiting to explode as the sun rose higher in the hazy, whitened sky.

  Noel didn’t respond. He held his own bottle but didn’t drink. With his free hand, he reached in to the pack again and withdrew a small bag of nuts and shelled sunflower seeds. He didn’t offer me any.