by Tara Brown
“Yeah I’m starving and it’s been like six hours. I’m never going to gain anything back if I don’t eat regularly.”
“I think you look pretty. No matter what you weigh.” He smirked at me.
I felt a funny feeling in my stomach, it always hit the radar, guys who dated my sister or thought she was sexy were bad news. I smiled at him anyway to be polite because aside from dating my sister he really was a nice guy and I DID secretly love him which was going to make the not dating him thing a lot harder.
He pulled into the town’s local burger shack, “The Wood Inn” not exactly known for its gourmet but the veggie burgers were pretty yummy.
He hopped out quickly to open my door for me and help me out, I liked this about him. Shane was a gentleman regardless of dating my sister and that was always appreciated. I got a slight hint of laundry soap and deodorant when I climbed out and it made me smile.
We got a seat inside by the window where I instantly recognized his dad and mistress eating and canoodling in the corner behind Shane’s back.
I felt sick knowing his dad was having some slutty home wrecker wipe his mouth in public while Shane was devastated and his mom suicidal.
“I need to pee can you give me a minute.” He stood as I stood which looked out of place in this fine establishment but I didn’t care. I watched him as I walked away and he picked up the menu, even though we all knew it off by heart, and started to make his selection.
I walked casually till I got to his dad’s table; I slumped down instantly regretting it as my side screamed as I sat beside the slut in the booth.
His dad’s fat face looked stunned, “Aimee, what can I do for you? How are you feeling?”
His tramp elbowed me slightly trying to move over and adjust, “I just got poisoned while I was at your house and I may have to make a few phone calls to some lawyers if you don’t take this filthy bitch and get the hell out of this restaurant now. I am trying to have a decent meal with your son and I know for a fact he won’t stay here if he sees you, especially with her. Now I’m really wanting the veggie burger here because even though it’s a small establishment the burger is amazing, get me?” I raised my eyebrow at him.
I felt the trollop start to get ready to speak but I looked her straight in the eye, “You don’t want to make a scene with me in this town. No one has respect for home wreckers.” I looked back at Mr. Bagley, “get her out of here or I might find myself not feeling very well and needing private medical attention in Brazil.”
He nodded not saying a word. As I slid out of the booth I smirked at him, “Take her out the back door, I’m sure she is used to it.”
I walked away feeling much empowered, no wonder my sister enjoyed ripping people’s throats out, she got a high from it. I had no idea and promised myself as I entered the ladies room I would only use my new found powers for good.
I came back from the bathroom seconds later to see cash laid out on the table and no one in the seats where Shane’s dad had been. I smiled to myself as I walked to my seat and slid into the booth. My side was officially killing me but I felt like I was on cloud nine.
“Ready to order?” The server seemed to appear out of nowhere.
I nodded, “I’ll have the veggie burger, no bacon, with cheese, extra tomato and a side of yam fries.”
She nodded at my order not even considering how stupid it was to have to ask for no bacon on ones veggie burger.
She looked at Shane, “I will have the bacon cheese burger, with bacon, no tomato and a side of regular fries. I also will have a chocolate shake.”
She finished writing it down and glanced at me while taking the menus’, “Water okay for you?”
I nodded and she was gone.
“So you like your bacon cheese burger with bacon?” I asked making him smile.
He grinned, “I don’t see how you can stomach a veggie burger without bacon.” I laughed shaking my head at him.
“You’ve been a veggie for a long time, what is it seven years now?” He asked playing with the fork and knife on the tabletop.
I smiled at him completely taken aback, “Yeah almost eight. How do you remember that?”
He shrugged, “I just notice stuff I guess. So who are you going to the spring formal with?”
I gulped blindsided again, “Oh my god I kind of figured it would be Blake. I guess I’m not going. I’m not a dance kind of girl anyway.”
“Well I was taking Alise, why don’t we go together?”
I sipped my water cautiously, “As friends?”
“Yeah. I don’t see how we can be anything else Aimee, as much as I would love to date you and wish I had dated you instead of Lucifer I mean Alise, you need some time I think to get better.”
Relief and disappointment battled inside of me, “Okay sure. I have a rule anyway about dating boys who date my sister.”
He sighed back still playing with the utensils, “Okay good. I like you so much and I like being with you, as friends.” I could swear I saw something, a gleam in his eyes.
I laughed wistfully but secretly imagining what it would be like to be held by his strong arms besides being carried all the time like a feeble invalid, “Yeah I was thinking the exact same thing.”
He leaned over the table looking around slightly as if he were to tell me the biggest secret ever, “You wanna know what you said to me that night on the grass?”
I got nervous again, I fiddled with the straw with my teeth holding my glass so tight it could burst in my hands as I nodded.
“You told me that you didn’t understand how I could date her and that she was abusive.”
I had to admit I felt a small amount of disappointment, “Yeah I still feel that way. I don’t get that Blake who I have known my whole life, as an upstanding kind guy likes my sister. He is so smart and funny and easy going and she is-”
“The antichrist?” He cut in.
I raised my hands a little, “I know right? So bazaar.”
He shook his head, “There is something about your sister men cannot resist. If she walked in and went over to that table right now and said I wanna do it. That man would. Any guy would 'date' her again again again and suffer the same fate every time. Those silver eyes and that dark brown hair, she's unstoppable. Aimee you’re more like a sweet girl next door that I want to marry. Your sister is not the marrying type, she's like the spring break type.”
I gulped at him saying marriage and my name in the same sentence but then translated his whole speech and frowned a little.
His little rant was not meant to hurt my feelings and I knew this but being told I wasn’t sexy was a little hurtful even though I believed sexy was not something teenage girls should ever strive for and he did say I was the marrying type.
“I’m sorry I shouldn’t say such bad things about her, she is your sister.”
“I have no illusions about my sister Shane, she is exactly what she is. She burns through men, she has no self-respect and even less for anyone else and she is always attracted to the thing she can’t have.”
“Great, speak of the devil and she shall arrive at your favorite burger joint.”
I turned to see my sister and Blake walking hand in hand but stopping dead as they saw me and Shane sitting at the table. Our food arrived as they got brought to the seat behind us. Blake dropped her hand and straightened up in his stance not letting his gaze leave mine as if trying to reassure me.
Alise smiled sweetly, “Fancy meeting you two here.” She looked back and forth between us suspiciously.
I felt sick looking at them, “We went to see Wade.”
Blake smirked, “The elusive Wade, what did he have to say for himself?” Blake kept his gaze on me as if we were the only people in the room. I avoided his gaze still feeling angry with him and not in the mood to discuss it in a diner.
Shane shook his head, “It’s not the right guy. She didn’t recognize Wade at all.” Shane seemed, rightfully so, touchy.
“Can we just
sit with you?” Alise asked innocently.
“No let’s just go somewhere else, Alise lets go somewhere else.” Blake wasn’t pleading he was telling. He pulled her back toward the entrance obviously detecting my annoyance, “Enjoy your meal.” He said softly dragging her out onto the street.
I sighed picking up my juicy veggie burger and smiled at Shane, “Bon Appetite.”
He tried to smile but his anger was obvious.
I laughed taking the biggest bite I could. The tastes started to swirl in my mouth the flavor was so similar. I hated this taste. I started to feel like I was going to throw up. My favorite veggie burger in the world was making me sick. I grabbed my napkin and spit the huge bite into it.
“I’m so sorry Shane, I don’t usually spit out food but it tastes exactly like my vomit the other night. I had a veggie burger for dinner that night before the party.”
His eyes lit up, “You remember the taste of your puke!” He nearly shouted.
I realized what I had said and indeed some memory had come back, “Alise did my hair and makeup and made me wear the outfit I was wearing. I ate the veggie burger in secret in my room so she wouldn’t know I ate. My dad had picked it up for me when he picked up his pizza.”
He clapped, “Yes, see some of it is coming back.”
I was excited except for the fact veggie burgers were going to be off the menu for quite a while.
I felt my phone vibrate in my jacket pocket as I was trudging my way to chemistry. Normally it was one of my favorite classes but sitting next to one of the biggest frauds on earth was hard to stomach. Blake had pretended to be something he wasn’t, no matter what I couldn’t respect him after everything that had happened.
My sister had cried to me and told me it was a mistake when really they were making plans all along to hook up and Blake sent me the broken heart symbol when really he had been sending my sister messages. That was how he knew about my room being with Giselle and that was a lie in my books.
I hadn’t really spoken to my sister since the incident but I knew that I had been taken by one of the best grifters in the world. She was a pro con artist from not wanting to do chores to juggling four boyfriends.
Trying to think on other things I thought about how I needed to see the 'not Wade' guy again, I had become convinced he was a ghost who I could only see when I was near Shane’s house. I didn’t believe in ghosts at all but the only times I had seen him were in the yard and in the stairwell there so I became convinced that Shane's house was the key. I was scaring myself with the shaman ghost story I had cooked up in my head but I needed to see that guy again. I thought about him day and night. I could hear his voice; he was talking about my veggie burger and to come back to myself. His face and those words were the only memory I really had. I recalled seeing him in the bathroom at Shane’s but the memory was really fuzzy.
I was leaving for Portland with my dad to see Giselle later in the day, she wasn’t even really speaking to my sister anymore.
I looked over noticing the kids at school whispering and watching me. It wasn’t one group of kids, it was all the kids in the courtyard. I tried not to notice but it was hard going from complete unknown to that girl who got drugged and nearly raped.
I held my books tighter and looked toward my class but I saw Blake walk up to the class door. I cringed thinking about being around him and for the first time ever I decided I needed more air than chemicals. I decided to ditch and go to Shane’s house. Mr. Mac saw me running the wrong way, well maybe not running, “Aimee what are you doing?”
I looked down at the ground ashamed, “Sir I need to go home. I’m feeling sick.”
He laughed, “You are the worst liar ever.” Mr. Mac knew me better than any other teacher. His youthful look had people believing him to be just a youngster but was smarter than any teacher in the school.
He walked toward me looking extremely concerned, “Are you having a problem getting back into the swing of things Aimee?”
I nodded, “Yeah it seems hard to focus now. I’m tired a lot lately.”
He looked down on me and pointed to the chemistry room, “I’m going to walk this way and if you follow great and if you don’t I might not notice cause I’m pretty preoccupied about the marks on the test we took last week. The ninety eight you got probably earned you a day off from class if you wanted to think about it that way.” His eyes grew dark, “I truly hope you’re feeling better Aimee.”
I looked up into his dark brown eyes and smiled relieved, “You’re the best Mr. Mac thanks,” He nodded and walked away from me strolling casually toward the Chem. Lab.
I hobbled over to where Shane was taking his welding class and waved at him through the shop doors. He looked at me puzzled.
He walked over all sexy in his coveralls and welding hat lifted up with bits of grease and dirt on his face.
He smiled at me as he opened the door, “Aims what’s up?”
I held my hand out, “I need your truck keys I want to go to your house for a bit. I think your yard is haunted.”
He burst out laughing and fished his keys out of his pocket, “You are the weirdest girl I have ever met. I notice you’ve gained a bit of weight by the way. I meant to say something cause you’re filling out again.”
I took the keys and grinned at him, “Thanks, this is a good look for you too. I think if you wore this to the spring formal I might want to dance.”
He winked and closed the door.
I turned on my heel feeling very flirty; it could be that I felt so safe with him. I knew nothing would ever come of our flirting even though deep deep down where I never let myself go I wished it would.
I went to the truck feeling a small sense of freedom mixed with a lot of guilt, I never skipped, ever. The one good thing about being a straight A student was that at the end of the school year it was pretty well sorted out what your grade was going to be. We had two and a half months of school left and I was at a ninety-three percent average. Skipping out one day wasn’t going to cost me too much I told myself.
The drive to Shane’s house was about five minutes and for some reason I couldn’t help looking in my rear-view. I was not a very good criminal.
I pulled into the driveway and hopped out of the truck, my ribs hurting slightly but I ignored it and walked quickly up to the house. I was so hopeful it was ridiculous. I wandered around the outside of the huge grey house looking behind myself sharply and then peeking around corners. If anyone saw this they would instantly assume master spy or total idiot. I was going with the latter as I snuck around the bushes and the vibrant green grass.
I decided the woods were my best bet.
I looked around me stopping midway across the lawn to listen for anyone who might be following me. I decided thinking about creepy people following you was not the smartest way to enter the woods.
The trees on the North Coast were huge; big was what you called a tree at half its life here. The trees in the woods that Shane called a yard were massive. I felt the forest air hit like a ton of bricks as I entered, it was freezing and damp. I crept along looking all around me.
I decided camping out in a quiet spot was my best plan, then like a rabbit hopping into a trap I would be able to see him but he wouldn’t see me. I crept through huge ferns and old mans beard covering the branches. The forest thinned out remarkably once you were inside of it. The canopy of the huge trees was such a filter for the light not a lot of other small trees and bushes could grow. But moss and ferns didn’t need light to prosper. The forest on the north coast always reminded me of Jurassic Park. The air was clean and pure but colder sometimes by five or six degrees.
I found the old tree fort Shane had constructed once with his friends and hid at the base of the tree next to it. There was a small bush surrounded by several huge ferns and if I sat still long enough I could probably see his ghost.
I pulled my jacket tight around me and pulled the hood up around my head to cover my blond hair. The black jacket helped
me to blend into the brush and massive trunk. I sat back on the dirt leaning against the tree and sat still. I turned my phone to vibrate and waited.
I wanted to say I was a peaceful enough person that the calm of the forest and the small noises it made throughout the day were relaxing but I felt on edge hiding in the forest for either a ghost or a stalker.
I heard a crunch after ten minutes fifty feet back toward the house, I stayed very still as it came closer. I felt my heart beat increasing as the noise got louder and louder. I wanted to close my eyes and become invisible or blink my way back to the safety of my own room. I was terrified, as the sound got so loud I swear I could feel the vibration of the branches breaking. I knew for an unexplainable reason this was not his ghost, this I needed to fear.
I heard him breathing, he was out of breath or nervous like I was. I knew the bush covered me but if he got close enough he would be able to see me.